Who We Are
by stargate6525
Summary: What if Rowan hadn't come to see Chase because he was dying but to see House with some important news. It is rated T because I don't know where this is going. There will be no slash but I have no idea about cursing or anything else that might come up. See first chapter for any warnings.
1. Is It True?

Disclaimer: I own nothing. All of the characters belong to the creators of House and I make nothing from this it's for fun.

Changed Facts

1. Chase has always been the youngest fellow on House's team. I did the math and Jesse Spencer (who plays Chase) and he was born in 1979 and House started in 2004 meaning that he was 25 when the show started. Now I knocked off a few years cause the man just looks so much younger and made him 20. I know that one is supposed to be 26 at the earliest when they graduate from med school but Chase got a special waver because of who his father was only because of his age his records were sealed by all and only Cuddy knows about Chase's real age.

2. Cuddy, House, and Wilson are all the same age I used Hugh Laurie's age, which was 45 when the show started.

3. Foreman, Kutner, Taub, Amber and Stacy's age stays the same.

4. Masters and Park are 23 at the time the show started (I started all of them at the time of season 1 and they will age from there until their entrances)

5. Thirteen and Adams are 25 at the time the show started.

6. Cameron is 27 at the time the show started.

7. Chase's father has a different last name than Chase it's Rowan Hawkren. He didn't want Chase to trade in on his name so he made Chase change his last name. Chase obviously chose Chase figuring that since everyone calls you by your last name then he would choose the name that he preferred over Robert.

8. The show goes as it should up until the point when Rowan is talking privately with house in the episode cursed, which is where I'll pick up at on an AU perspective. Now I don't think that I will go completely outrageous but I will be going off of the show and have NO idea if all of the medical facts are true and honestly I don't care I'll do my best and if I get something completely off and you know the real facts then please tell me and I will try to fix it.

9. Anything else that you have a question about will probably be explained in the story but if not feel free to message me and I will do my best to explain.

Chapter 1

House and Rowan were standing there staring at each other. House knew there was something that Rowan wasn't telling Chase after all he was there for a reason; but what was it? There was nothing medically wrong with Rowan, House had checked with every hospital in Australia and all of the hospitals in the area. Rowan wasn't there for the conference because House had called and checked on that as well. He clearly wasn't there to be with his son because he had done nothing but fight with, anger and ignore him. What was left? Rowan had asked to talk to House but so far he hadn't said anything. House was getting tired of this non-verbal sparing match and his leg was starting to bother him. He sat down in his chair and decided to get the ball rolling himself. "So, did you ask me in here to beat me in a staring contest or was there an actual reason?" he asked snarkily.

Rowan looked at House clearly debating about something. "I asked you in here to talk" he said simply.

"I knew that!" House sneered, "What I want to know is what you want to talk to me about and you haven't been all too helpful with that part"

"I want to talk to you about Robert"

"O.K. I also guessed that but again I will ask. What about?"

"I told you what I wanted to talk about"

"All you said was Robert. That tells me next to nothing. Do you want to talk about his work, his relationships, his favorite color, what?" House said getting irritated.

"I want to talk about…" Rowan paused. Should he bring this up? He had gotten Robert the job with House because he wanted them to get to know each other so that he could have this very conversation. Once House knew Rowan could break away from Robert permenately and he would never have to deal with him again. That had always been the goal, ever since his wife had brought the boy home he had wanted to get rid of the lad. It had taken some time to find out whom to send Robert to but once Rowan was certain he sent him away. This had always been the plan so what was the issue? Well there really was no other way to say it so Rowan just handed the folder in his hand over to House and didn't say anything else at all.

House was confused. So far this conversation had been annoying and strange and now Rowan hadn't even managed a full sentence before thrusting a file folder at him. What was this about? House took the file and opened it on his desk it looked like someone's genetic testing. On the top of one paper was Lisa Cuddy another said Robert Chase and the last said Gregory House. House stopped when he saw his name on the top of one of the DNA work ups. Also in the file were two other sheets of paper. One was a maternity test between Chase and Cuddy, it was positive. The last page was a paternity test between House and Chase, it was also positive. House was shell-shocked. Was Rowan trying to mess with him or was he serious? Could he even be serious? "Is this a joke?" he asked.

"No. Tell Robert if you want but I want nothing else to do with him so please make sure that he never tries to contact me again. Good day" And with that Rowan Hawkren left his office and left the city. He had done what he came to do.

House sat there in shock trying to figure out if Rowan had been playing a really good practical joke on him or not. Could Chase even be his son? He and Cuddy had only had sex once and that was years ago, when they were in med school. Even if he had somehow managed to get Cuddy pregnant after only one night together that would mean that Chase would be going on 20 and there was no way that Chase could be that young. The youngest a med school graduate could possibly be was 26 so that meant that Chase had to currently be 26 going on 27. Granted Chase didn't look old enough to be 24 let alone 27 but still, he had to be didn't he?

House kept staring at the test results that were in front of him. Could he trust the tests? Someone who clearly wanted nothing to do with Chase so not something that House would trust 100% gave them to him. He would do his own tests but he'd wait to tell anyone until he was certain. O.K. so he would have to tell Wilson because he had to talk to someone about this. Maybe Wilson will know what to do.

House walked down the hall to Wilson's office and barged in without knocking. "Doors have a purpose you know" Wilson said in greeting.

"This is too important" House said handing Wilson the folder that Rowan had given him.

"What's this?" Wilson asked

"Read it" House said

Wilson sighed but opened the folder. After reviewing all of the information he looked up at House. "Is this real?"

"I have no idea"

"Where'd you get it?"

"Rowan"

"Is he someone you can trust?"

"No idea"

"Can it be possible?"

"Only if Chase is almost 20 rather than almost 27" House said simply.

Wilson stopped to think. This all had rather large implications but if the age difference was true then it couldn't be possible. There were two options: 1) Rowan had lied and faked these tests for some sick joke or 2) Chase had lied about his age and was really much younger than anyone had thought. Both were possible Rowan was a bastard and Chase easily looked as though he could be 20. There was only one way to know for sure. "Have you asked Chase for his DNA?"

"I wasn't planning on asking."

"Of course not that would only mean being a decent person and telling someone that you may be there father" Wilson said sarcastically.

"Yeah because that worked out so well for Darth Vader. His kid fell to his death to avoid him when he found out."

"Darth Vader was evil and a fictional character"

"I don't even know if this is real. Telling Chase would only confuse him and then when the results show that this is a joke he will just be upset" House reasoned.

"What about telling Cuddy?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because"

"Because why?"

"Because I don't want to" House said exaggerated "Now lets drop this"

"Fine. I'll drop it for now but, if the results come back positive you have to tell them" Wilson sighed giving in.

"I'll think about it" House sidestepped. He didn't know if he would want to tell Chase or Cuddy the truth if the results came back positive but that was such a small chance that he was sure that it wouldn't matter. "Now. How are we going to get Cuddy's DNA?" he asked.


	2. Test Results

Chapter 2

Wilson and House discussed possibilities on how to get both Chase and Cuddy's DNA for half an hour before they agreed that they would leave Cuddy to Wilson and Chase to House and would meet up in the lab at 22:00 hours.

House headed back to his office to await his team, they were out running tests on their latest patient. Eventually Cameron and Chase walked in debating as to whether or not the boy actually did have autoimmune or something else. "Enough" House called when he was tired of the argument. The two fellows stopped the discussion and Cameron went to the table and Chase started making a cup of coffee, perfect. Foreman entered a few minutes later and they all sat down to try and diagnose the kid.

Once the team had come up with their latest decision House sent them out to get more tests. They all walked out, Chase conveniently putting his cup in the sink but not rinsing it out. House went over to the sink and bagged the cup then stashed it in his desk for later. Now all he had to do was hope that Wilson did his part.

Wilson wasn't quite sure what he would do but he needed to get Cuddy's DNA somehow. There were many ways to get a persons DNA but Wilson decided to go with the first idea that came to mind. He would steal one of Cuddy's used coffee cups out of her trashcan after she left for the night.

Wilson waited patiently for Cuddy to leave for the evening and eventually around 21:00 he got his wish. As soon as Cuddy was out of the hospital doors he snuck into her office and started digging through the trashcans looking for a used cup.

Cuddy walked into her office a few minutes after having left only to find Wilson on his hands and knees sifting through her trashcan. "What are you doing?" she asked. Really she should have been more surprised by this but Wilson was House's friend and she had ceased to be surprised by House a long time ago.

"Uh… I'm…" Wilson stuttered. How could he explain this?

"You're what?" Cuddy asked. She towered over him while crossing her arms and tapping her foot impatiently. "And there better be a good explanation for this or else you're looking at a lot of clinic hours."

Wilson paused. What should he do? He didn't have a decent lie to give Cuddy and clinic hours were not really desired. He had wanted to tell Cuddy from the beginning it was House who had refused. There was no real reason not to tell Cuddy in fact she would know better than anyone if she and House had conceived a kid twenty years ago. Maybe it would be best to tell her.

"I'm waiting" Cuddy said impatiently.

"Rowan told House that you and he are Chase's parents" Wilson blurted out.

"What?"

"Rowan told House that you and he were Chase's biological parents"

"Why would he say that?" Cuddy asked. She was wondering. She had never asked what had happened to the baby but she never imagined that it could be Chase.

"He had DNA from all three of you and paternity and maternity tests that say it's true. However House says that Chase is too old to be your child since you and he would have had a kid about 21 years ago meaning that the kid would be 19-20 now."

"Why would he say that Chase is too old?" Cuddy asked. As far as she knew Chase was going to be 20 in two weeks. Now that she thought about it Chase was exactly the right age to be her kid and his birthday was on her son's birthday. But it couldn't be possible Chase was Australian not American.

"Because Chase is going on 27 and House said that the kid would need to be 20" Wilson explained. Cuddy still had the confused look on her face "Unless you know something that we don't" Wilson guessed. The guilty look on Cuddy's face confirmed his guess. "What is it?"

"Chase's age" she said, "It's not 27. He's nowhere near 27 his 20th birthday is in two weeks."

"He's not even 20" Wilson exclaimed, "How is that even possible?"

"He's extremely intelligent. He sped through school and then he tested out of most of med school and finished it about a year ago. Typically it's not allowed but because of who his father is and when I agreed to hire him I made him agree to keep his mouth shut about his age because it would cause too many questions with patients and other doctors to have a teenager employed as a doctor here," Cuddy explained. "It doesn't matter though because he can't be mine he's Australian"

"You don't know he's Australian. He was raised in Australia by Australian parents his accent was bound to occur given that he was surrounded by it his entire life." Wilson explained.

"So then he could be…" Cuddy trailed off. Could Chase really be her kid? How did Rowan know? Did Chase know?

"Did you have a kid with House twenty years ago?"

"I never told him" was the only explanation Cuddy gave.

"Well he knows now. So can I get some of your DNA or do I need to continue digging through your trash. I'm supposed to meet House down in the lab in twenty minutes" Wilson said.

Cuddy looked at him "I thought you already had the test results" she said.

"Rowan provided some however House is doubtful of their validity and wanted to test them himself. We decided to split and conquer, he took Chase and I took you. So about that DNA"

"You can have it" Cuddy said. Before Wilson could get too relaxed she added "Once we get down to the lab" and with that Cuddy turned and started walking to the lab.

"No. I wasn't supposed to tell you about this and I'm really not supposed to bring you along to the test"

"You want my DNA don't you?"

"Yes"

"Then I'm going to see the test and make sure that it's not tainted in any way" if Chase really was her kid she wanted to know and she didn't trust House to tell him the truth.

They arrived at the lab and House looked up at the two that entered. "I told you to get a sample of her DNA not to bring her along" House said agitated.

"She caught me going through her garbage and threatened me with clinic hours. Plus I told you that we should tell her. Oh and she says that Chase will be 20 in two weeks" Wilson defended himself.

"I am not going to be kept out of something as important as this" Cuddy said

"You I don't want here" House said to Cuddy. To Wilson he said "What do you mean he'll be 20 in two weeks you have to be at least 26 to graduate med school we've been over this"

"He practically tested out of med school and we had an agreement not to tell when I agreed to hire him." Cuddy said and then she swabbed herself "Here now run the tests"

The three of them waited nervously for the results. As they waited House browbeat the truth out of Cuddy. The basic story is that after Cuddy and House had spent the night together they went their separate ways. A few weeks later Cuddy realized that she had missed her period and she took a pregnancy test. When the test came back positive she didn't know what to do. She wanted a child but no then and not when she was single. She didn't think that House would want the burden of a child either. Not knowing what else to do she decided to have the child and then put it up for adoption, her religious beliefs deterring the idea of an abortion. She never told anyone, not even her family and she looked hard to find a good adoption agency that would find a suitable home for her unborn child. When she gave birth it was to a little boy. She was about a month early (maybe a little less) and the baby had to be rushed to the NICU immediately so she never even got to see him. She was told that a doctor and his wife adopted the baby and that they were a good couple. She hadn't heard anything since.

The story ended just as the test results came in. Both House and Cuddy were to nervous or scared to pick up the test results so Wilson reached over and checked it himself.

"Well?" House asked

"Well?" Cuddy asked at the same time as House.

"Apparently Rowan wasn't lying to you guys" Wilson said. "Congratulations you have a healthy 20 year old son now you've just got to figure out how to tell him" he started heading towards the door.

"Where are you going?" House asked Wilson when he saw him leaving.

"You two need time to figure this out and it's something that you need to do together. I'm giving you the privacy that you need" Wilson said and he left leaving the new parents alone to contemplate what to do next.


	3. Morning Off?

Chapter 3

House and Cuddy sat there in stunned silence for a long time before either one of them found the nerve to speak. It was House who finally broke the silence. "How could you not tell me that you were pregnant?" he asked indignantly.

"I couldn't believe it and if I couldn't process it then how could you have been able to cope? You had a life and I didn't want to disrupt it because of a single night with someone you had just met?" Cuddy tried to explain.

"I had a right to know"

"What would you have done?"

"I… I…" House said but he really didn't know what he would have done with a baby back then. He was in med school and he had already made a name for himself. He had a very active social life and a baby would have thrown a wrench in his life and he knew it. Still it was his kid, he'd had a right to know.

"You don't know do you? I didn't either that's why I put the baby up for adoption" Cuddy interrupted.

"So instead of keeping the baby with family you let him out to the system where he could have wound up anywhere" House fumed.

"No. I researched all of the adoption agencies around and found one that would allow me to see the background checks run on the families and make sure that the baby went to a good home a safe and loving home"

"Safe and loving home!" House practically yelled, "Have you seen Chase's history? He was in anything but a safe and loving home"

Cuddy stopped. She had been promised that her baby would be placed in the best home available so what was House talking about? "What do you mean? He was placed with a doctor and his wife. He was going to be an only child. The family had tried to have their own children but failed. They thought that the child of two med school students would be a good compromise. I was guaranteed that he would be taken care of"

"Well he wasn't. His father left him when he was ten and left him with his alcoholic mother until she died five years later. Who knows what else happened to that boy." House stated agitated "His life was anything but happy. Some adoption agency you found"

"I did the best I could at the time." Cuddy said staring off to the side.

They once again lost themselves in their own thoughts. Consumed with trying to decide what to do now. "Should we tell him?" Cuddy asked.

"No. Not yet" House said

"He needs to know. He deserves to know"

"And how exactly will that go over? We walk in and say hey you know that piece of crap family that you grew up with well it turns out that they had adopted you and your real parents are your boss and your bosses boss who had a one night stand in college" House said sarcastically. "Yeah that'll go over well"

"I wouldn't phrase it just like that but it's the basic information that he needs to know"

"It will just confuse him. We're still confused. How can we expect him to be all right with this when we aren't? If we do this now we'll just scare him away and then we'll never see him again. No. We keep this to ourselves for now" House said.

"How am I supposed to face him now that I know. He's our son, my baby boy. His birthday's coming up. I want to get to know him and yet I know almost nothing about him."

"Well make friends with him then but don't tell him. At least not yet."

"When then House? Hm.. When do you tell your son that he's your son?"

"I don't know!" House exclaimed, "When do you tell the man you slept with that he has a son?"

"Fine" Cuddy caved. "We'll wait, but I don't know how long I'll be able keep this to myself"

"Well try. I just found out who he is the last thing I need is for you to scare him off" House said. He left the lab right after than refusing to give Cuddy a chance to respond. He didn't know how he was going to react to Chase now. The boy was his and he was a hell of a lot younger than House had originally anticipated. There was nothing he could do now though. For now it was time to head home.

Cuddy sat in the lab thinking about what this all meant. Chase was her son. She had sat down with him when he was hired and went over all the rules that went along with his age. She looked at his birthday and hadn't put it all together. The boy was so much like House he was clever, sarcastic, and witty. Chase was just a kid and he was working 80 hour a week shifts sometimes not going home for three to four days at a stretch. How was he eating properly? Sleeping properly? He was just a child he needed to keep healthy. Well she would be looking into that from now on. Cuddy got up from her stool and headed for home. She would be keeping a better eye on Chase and House's team starting tomorrow.

Chase walked into the office early in the morning. He was always the first in in the morning. He walked over and started making the coffee expecting to have time to check on the patient, make the coffee and maybe even grab a bite if he was lucky. With a job like his he rarely had time to grab a snack let alone stick to three meals a day. He did what he could but he hadn't gone home last night until 0300 after leaving work at 0100 and then stopping by the dry cleaners (took forever to find a decent drycleaners open 24/7) and the grocery store and a couple other errands. Getting home so late means no time to eat if he wanted to sleep and he choose the sleep. It was currently 0700 now and the coffee was finally done and the office was clean. Time to check on the patient.

Chase was just turning to head out of the office with his head buried in a file when he bumped House. "What are you doing here?" he asked once he realized who it was in front of him.

"Good morning to you too" House greeted "What are you doing here so early I told all of you that you had the morning off and that I didn't want to see you until noon at the earliest." House had made the call after leaving the hospital last night after realizing that Chase's car was still in the parking lot and that he hadn't seen the boy leave last night. House had been tempted to go and find Chase and drag him home so that he would be sure the kid got some rest and a decent meal but he thought better of it. It wouldn't help his relationship with Chase to be going over-protective. House had thought it over and then decided to give all of his team the morning off since they had all agreed, with the exception of Chase, that the boy had an autoimmune disease.

"I came to run some more tests. It's not autoimmune" Chase said flatly.

"Well you can run the tests after noon just as well" House said. He had asked down in security before coming up and knew that Chase hadn't left until 0100 that morning and here he was at 0700 having already made coffee and from the looks of it he had cleaned the office as well.

Chase was about to reply but was cut off by the office door opening and Cuddy walking in "House I was wondering if you knew…." Cuddy tapered off upon seeing Chase. "What are you doing here?" she asked Chase.

"I'm already getting into that," House said snidely to Cuddy then turning his attention back to Chase "You need to go home. I don't want to see you back here until… lets see you've been here for an hour so lets say 1300." House ordered.

"I'm not leaving I'm going to run some more tests. The patient doesn't have autoimmune" Chase stated and started to walk off.

"No" both House and Cuddy said together. Cuddy stepped in front of the office door and House reached out and grabbed Chase's arm to stop him from leaving.

"Let go of me!" Chase said to House.

House let go of his arm "You're not running anymore tests right now. You all have the morning off and you're going to take it" House stated

"No I'm not. I'm already here and I am going to prove that it's not autoimmune. What does it matter anyway I've never taken the mornings off when you've given it. I've never left early either and you've never cared before" Chase tried to reason.

House was getting irritated and slightly concerned. "I've never known before but rest assured I'll be fixing that issue now." House stated calmly while staring Chase straight in the eye.

Chase gulped. He hadn't meant to draw House's attention to his working habits. He had thought that House already knew and figured if he hadn't said anything before then he must be all right with it. Guess he was wrong. "I'm here and I'm running the tests"

"What is it that you're testing for?" Cuddy asked finally stepping into the conversation.

Chase looked towards Cuddy hoping to find some type of an ally "I don't believe that Gage had autoimmune so I am working on proving it"

"Proving it how?" Cuddy asked.

"By running tests on every autoimmune that there is" House interjected snidely.

"That'll take weeks if not months" Cuddy said disbelievingly.

"So" Chase said sounding like a petulant teenager. Which House had to remind himself Chase actually was.

"You're not running tests for every autoimmune" Cuddy stated

"It's my time" Chase said. So much for his ally.

"And it's my lab equipment" Cuddy responded

Chase huffed. It seemed that Cuddy was taking House's side in this. "Fine. I'll run tests for other theories" Chase acquiesced.

"No" House stated, "You're going to go home and take the morning off"

"No I'm not. If I'm not allowed to run the tests I want I'll do something else but I'm already here and I'm going to work" Chase said. He didn't want to go home there was nothing to do and since his father arrived the nightmares had started again so sleeping wasn't on the top of his to do list either. Working was what he always did to get rid of the nightmares. He always felt safe at work he just didn't know why.

"You're not allowed to go anywhere near the patient or run any tests for the next twenty-four hours" Cuddy said putting an end to the argument.

"What!" Chase exclaimed, "You can't do that. House tell her she can't do that" Chase turned to House hoping for some small shred of support. House didn't like Cuddy messing with his department.

"Nope. I agree with Cuddy on this. You refuse to listen to us so now you will have to deal with the consequences" House said. He was secretly glad that Cuddy had made the proclamation because then Chase wouldn't blame him for it.

"This isn't fair. All I'm doing is my job and I'm being punished for it" Chase said indignantly.

"No. You are being punished for refusing to follow the orders of your boss and your boss' boss." Cuddy said simply. "Now why don't you head home"

"I'm not going home!" Chase yelled. He started to exit the office again only to be stopped by Cuddy and House again.

"Where do you think you're going then?" House asked

"The clinic" Chase said simply.

House and Cuddy shared a confused look. What was going on? It was one thing for Chase to want to prove his father wrong but now he was going to do any work in order to avoid going home. Why? "No" House said simply

"Why not" Chase asked becoming irritated with this conversation

"You're not scheduled for today and you're my employee" House said simply

"Well apparently I'm not working for you for twenty-four hours so I can do what I like" Chase shot back

"No you're not allowed to work on the case that doesn't mean that you're not my employee and if you're so set on working then I have plenty for you to do" House said with a small smirk. If Chase didn't want to go home then fine he would give him something to do.

"And what is it that you need me to do?" Chase asked snarkily. This hadn't been what he'd expected when he came into work today. When House gave them the morning off then he wasn't in until 1500 or later and yet here he was bright and early.

"Paperwork" House said as he walked over to his desk and all around the office and gathered up all of the paperwork he could find and dumped it on the spare desk in the office. "I want it organized, filed and anything else that you need to do with it." House stated.

Chase walked over gawking at the amount of paperwork there was. He thought that Cameron had been taking care of House's files but apparently not as well as he'd thought. Looking at the pile closer there were more than just patient files there was also the budget reports, mail, and referrals from other doctors as well as those just asking for a consult. "This'll take days possibly weeks" Chase complained.

"And you're not allowed back on regular cases until this is finished" House said.

Chase shot House a pleading look hoping that he was kidding but House just nodded his head towards the desk and walked into his office completely ignoring Cuddy.

Cuddy watched Chase until he finally sat down and got started. She wasn't happy that Chase was working but at least he wasn't running himself ragged and he was stuck in the office where House could keep an eye on him and she could see him anytime she walked past. Just to make sure that she would be able to keep an eye on Chase herself if she wanted to she opened the blinds between the large office and the hallway "These stay open" she said to Chase.

"Fine" Chase pouted as he got to work on the large pile of paperwork on the desk in front of him. This was gonna take forever.


	4. Why?

Chapter 4

Chase had been working for five hours before Cameron and Foreman walked in. Neither one of them were surprised that Chase was in early, he was always in before them. What did surprise them was that Chase was sitting at the desk in the big office, which had stacks of paperwork all over it and on the floor beside it. Chase wasn't typically the one who did the paperwork it wasn't his favorite thing, much like House avoided paperwork like the plague well so did Chase.

"Why are you doing paperwork?" Cameron asked

"Probably because he's sucking up to House after his father made a fool of him" Foreman smirked

"Or maybe it's because I ordered him too" House said as he came in.

"Why?" Cameron asked.

"Because I felt like it" House stated simply. Chase glared at him but House seemed oblivious to it. "Now how's the patient?" House asked.

"He's improving" Foreman said "looks like he has autoimmune"

"He does…." Chase started but House cut him off.

"Good. Go get lunch and then find something to do since this case is over" House said. Foreman and Cameron nodded and headed out of the office. They weren't hungry but they also didn't want to stay in there seeing that Chase looked livid.

"The case is not over because Gabe does not have autoimmune" Chase stated after everyone else had left.

House turned to him "He is improving with the treatment meaning that we are treating his illness. Now it's time for lunch so go" House said.

"It's not autoimmune. Just because he's improving now doesn't mean that he won't crash soon." Chase argued completely ignoring the order to go and find lunch.

"I'm not debating this with you this is not a democracy." House said in a tone that basically ended the discussion. He stood there a few minutes waiting for Chase to either argue back or get up and go get lunch but Chase did neither of those things. Instead Chase huffed in annoyance and went back to working on the files.

After a few more minutes Chase couldn't ignore House's stare any longer and looked up "What is it now?" he asked snidely.

House wanted to tell him to drop the attitude but had to remind himself that while he was apparently Chase's father Chase did not know this and House the boss would never say such a thing. Man this was hard. "I believe I sent everyone out to get lunch" House stated simply.

"O.K. so go get lunch then" Chase said not seeing the reason House was still there.

"I sent everyone to go get lunch. You are included in that everyone." House said.

"I'm not hungry" Chase stated as he turned his attention back to his work.

House wasn't in the mood for this. He wanted to grab Chase by the arm and drag him down to the cafeteria and force him to eat something however Chase was an adult and if he didn't want to eat that was his right. House couldn't start going insane just because Chase was his kid, especially since Chase didn't know about it. "Fine" House said turning around "But don't expect to be allowed to get lunch later. This is your lunch break" House said as he walked out of the office.

As soon as House left Chase sighed. He was finally completely alone in the office. He waited a couple of minutes before standing up and closing the blinds and then heading out to run the tests that he had wanted to run earlier. As House had said it was lunchtime and so both House and Cuddy would be getting lunch and it wouldn't look odd that the office was empty. Chase had about an hour to run whatever tests he liked.

As he ran the tests Chase realized that he could have just agreed with House and said he was going to get lunch but House always had a way of knowing when he was lying so instead he had simply said that he wasn't hungry which wasn't a lie. Chase found that he was never hungry after having to deal with his father. Much like he always had nightmares for a few days after as well. He hated that his father could make him so weak but there wasn't much he could do about it other than wait it out. It would go away in a few days, it always did, and until then he would burry himself in work. He had thought ahead and packed a few days worth of clothing before he left his apartment this morning. It had become a habit to do so whenever he heard from his father (about three or four times a year). He would pack a few days of clothing and basically live at the hospital either working on the case they had or picking up shifts in other departments.

What bothered Chase was the way that Cuddy and House were acting today. He had never seen them agree on much of anything so quickly and yet they had both jumped at making him sit at that stupid desk doing meaningless paperwork for days, because that's how long that paperwork would take, days. What was that about? And the way House was acting about him needing to get lunch. Chase had honestly expected House to drag him to the cafeteria if he didn't agree to go voluntarily. He was happy that House had just left but still. What was going on? And why had Cuddy insisted that he keep the blinds open? Thankfully House hadn't heard that last part or Chase wouldn't have been able to leave. He'd needed to shut the blinds incase House came by because then House would assume that Chase was still in the office and if Cuddy came by it would be no big deal because she would assume that Chase had gone to lunch. Good thing the two didn't talk to each other much or Chase's plan never would have worked.

Chase was just finishing up the tests that he had time to run. He didn't want to be late back to the office lest someone snitch on him to House. When he opened the door to the office though he stopped. There staring at him with their arms crossed and rather irritated expressions were House and Cuddy. He was screwed.

House had walked out of his office after giving in to Chase. He didn't know where he was going exactly but he ended up in front of Cuddy's office door. Not what he'd expected but it would work, at least she would be able to understand this, hopefully. He entered without knocking and Cuddy looked up at him with an annoyed expression. It appeared that she was in there alone so House just blurt out "I think I'm going to go crazy"

House had expected Cuddy to make a snide remark or to laugh or make fun but what he hadn't expected was complete understanding. "I know" she said, "I fell the same way. What are we gonna do?"

"I don't know" House said.

Cuddy was about to say something else but both stopped when the door opened. They looked over to see who the intruder was only to breath a sigh of relief when Wilson popped his head in the door. "Hey I saw House come in and was wondering if the two of you would like to get some lunch" he said.

"Come in" Cuddy said waving to Wilson to enter her office.

"O.K." Wilson said as he walked in and joined House on the couch. "What's going on" he asked when he took in the expressions of the two new parents.

"We don't know what to do with Chase" House said frankly.

"What do you mean?" Wilson asked. He had not been present at the discussion this morning.

"We're having some issues in dealing with Chase. We don't know how to act around him" Cuddy explained.

"You're going to have to be a bit more specific," Wilson said.

"We can't stop treating him like a child" House said

"What happened?" Wilson asked.

Cuddy and House then spent about ten minutes filling Wilson in on the events of that morning and then House told both Cuddy and Wilson about the conversation he'd had with Chase just a little bit before. When both were done telling what happened Wilson took a few minutes to collect his thoughts.

"It sounds as though the two of you are being parents" Wilson stated.

"Parents!" both House and Cuddy said together.

"If this is parenting then parents are no more than dictators" House said

"No. You two were not being dictators you were being concerned parents. You saw that your son hadn't spent enough time at home to actually get some real sleep and a decent meal. Seeing him here to do an almost impossible task on his own without having decently taken care of himself you two became reasonably upset. When Chase acted like a petulant teenager you two basically grounded him and gave him extra chores. It was a reasonable reaction for parents. The problem of course is that Chase doesn't know you're his parents and he doesn't understand your reaction but otherwise you seem to have a perfectly normal family relationship." Wilson reasoned.

Before House or Cuddy could respond House's pager went off. "Gotta go" he said. Apparently Chase had been right. Gabe did not have autoimmune, he crashed. House hurried back to his office to tell Chase but found no Chase to tell. Foreman and Cameron came in a few minutes later having gotten Gabe stable. House didn't have time to worry about Chase until the three of them came up with a new theory and House sent them out to test it.

"How's the patient" Cuddy said as she walked in just as Cameron and Foreman were heading out.

"Has Leprosy" House said.

"Uh huh. And where's Chase?" Cuddy asked.

"That's what I was just wondering"

"You said he didn't go to lunch"

"That's what he said. I left him sitting there at the desk" House defended.

"Well he's not there now"

"I can see that"

"Where do you think he is then?"

House and Cuddy stood there for a moment thinking where their kid could have gotten to, and then it hit them. "The Lab!" they said together angrily. They both turned to go and hunt down their wayward son only to see him walk through the office door.


	5. What's Changed?

Chapter 5

"Where have you been?" Cuddy questioned Chase.

"Oh. He's been down in the lab running tests for autoimmune even though he was told by you that he was not allowed to work on the case for twenty-four hours and he was told by me that he isn't allowed to work on any case until the paperwork I gave him is done." House said looking pointedly at Chase the whole time.

"I…" Chase stuttered. He hadn't expected either of them to find out that he had been gone but he definitely hadn't expected them to gang up on him together over not being there. "Why does it matter if I used my lunch break to run a few tests?" He asked the two irritated people. He realized after that it had been the wrong thing to say.

"Because you disobeyed not just one of us but the both of us so if I were you I'd sit down at that desk and get to work. House and I will discuss this and we will get back to you about what your punishment is. We will all get together and discuss this over dinner" Cuddy said. She then turned and headed out of the office. She stopped at the blinds and opened them completely "Oh and this" she said pointing at the blinds "stays open" and with that she left.

Chase turned to House hoping for some help but the look that House was sending told Chase not to push it so he sat down at the desk instead. House stood there for a few minutes watching Chase before heading back to his office. He needed to go talk with Cuddy but he clearly couldn't leave Chase unsupervised so he called Wilson. Wilson walked into House's office a few minutes later.

"What's going on?" Wilson asked.

"I need to go talk to Cuddy" House answered.

"O.K. so you called me down here to update me? Well thanks" Wilson said turning around.

"No. I called you down here to keep an eye on Chase while I do so" House explained.

"I don't need a babysitter!" Chase but in from the other room. The walls weren't sound proof and Chase was sitting right next to it.

"You have proven that you can't be trusted to do as you're told now get to work and stay out of my conversation." House called through the wall. "Now will you stay?" House asked turning back to Wilson.

"Sure. Just give me a few minutes to gather some work. I'll need to use your office to meet with some patients as well" Wilson said heading back to his office to get what he needed.

"Really House?" Chase asked walking into House's office.

"Get back to work" House said.

"I don't need a babysitter" Chase said again.

"You snuck out of the office to run tests that you had been told not to do. While yes the patient didn't have autoimmune…"

"Ha! I told you! So then what happened?" Chase asked pleased with himself.

"He has leprosy" House answered "Now back to you"

"Leprosy? Cool …" Chase started but was cut off by an irate House.

"Yes it's cool. You know what else would have been cool? You doing as you were told! I came here to tell you that you were right about the autoimmune and include you in the differential but you weren't where you were supposed to be. Instead you disappeared and hid where you went because you were doing something that you knew you weren't supposed to be doing. You snuck out like a child so therefore you will be watched like a child now go back to the desk and get to work on the paperwork" House ranted/ordered.

"Fine" Chase huffed. It probably wouldn't be a good idea to irritate House further especially when he knew why House needed to go talk to Cuddy and it didn't bode well for him.

Wilson walked back in a few minutes later and House headed out. "Thanks" he said to Wilson as he left.

"Sure, anytime" Wilson said. Usually this wouldn't be something he was willing to do but knowing the circumstances he was more than willing to help out the two new parents watch their adult son. He smirked to himself at the craziness of it all.

Chase sat at the desk pouting. He hated this. Why were House and Cuddy suddenly treating him like a child? Only Cuddy knew his actual age and she had agreed to ignore it so long as Chase did and she had kept her word up till now so what changed? House wasn't supposed to know his age and Chase doubted that Cuddy had told him, at least not willingly, and House hadn't even insulted him today not really. Chase knew he had worked himself harder than this multiple times in the past and neither one of them had ever cared before so what was different now? He knew that his father had come and shaken him up a bit but that shouldn't matter either. His father had called him plenty of times before and left him with the same uneasiness and that had never garnered House's and Cuddy's attention so it shouldn't now either. What had changed?

House limped into Cuddy's office preparing himself for… well he really didn't know what to prepare for. Typically when he went into Cuddy's office he was there to pester her into giving him his way or trying to avoid a case or clinic hours but now he was voluntarily walking into Cuddy's office in order to discuss how to punish their misbehaving son. My how things had changed.

"So how do you propose we deal with this?" Cuddy asked.

"I…" House said as he slumped into a chair "have no idea" he said honestly.

"Well have you given it any thought?' Cuddy asked.

"Chain him to the wall" House proposed

"How about a real idea. What was your first impression when you saw him?"

"I wanted to lock him in a room and never let him leave" House answered

"Yeah I know what you mean. I just find out that I have a kid and then when I go to see him and find he's missing I freak. He's a grown adult I shouldn't be worrying about him going missing. He knows his way around the hospital and can take care of himself. What's wrong with me?"

"Nothing's wrong with you. At least nothing that isn't also wrong with me." House said.

"Still. What are we going to do now?"

"Do you think we over reacted?" House asked

"Possibly. I was wondering that when I finally accepted that he was safe that's why I said we would tell him his punishment later rather than right then. So that we could calm down and think it through rationally."

"Yeah. That was a good idea" House agreed "So how are we gonna punish him?"

"Well I was thinking we could go along with extending our original punishments since that's what he broke" Cuddy reasoned.

"Makes since except that I only have so much paperwork and the case is over" House said

"Alright. How about I ban him from all cases and clinic duty for a week. That would extend mine. You could make him do all paperwork that comes through your office currently and all of the paperwork you gave him as well as the mail and the billing. That should keep him busy for a week." Cuddy suggested.

"Yeah that would work only the paperwork I gave him will probably last him a week so it's not really extending anything except getting him out of clinic duty" House said

"True. How about for two weeks then?"

"That would probably work" House agreed.

"So were in agreement?" Cuddy asked.

"Yeah I think so"

"Good"

"Good"

House stood up getting ready to leave since their conversation had ended.

"Where do you want to take him to dinner tonight?" Cuddy asked.

House turned around "Why would we take him anywhere?" he asked.

"Because he needs to eat" Cuddy said

"Yes but I thought we were trying not to scare him"

"Were not going to scare him by taking him to dinner"

"Oh I think we will. Neither one of us has ever taken him to dinner separately yet you want us to do it together. He's already confused as to why were teaming up against him and now you want to confuse him further. Yeah that's a good idea."

"Alright then what do you suggest?"

"I suggest that we pick up food from the cafeteria and bring it into the office after I've sent my other two minions home for the night" House said.

"Alright then that's what we'll do." Cuddy said. "Oh by the way, where's Chase now?" Cuddy asked.

"Working on paperwork" House said simply

"And you know this how?" Cuddy asked, "That's where you thought he was over lunch"

"Yes but over lunch I had left him alone. Now I have Wilson watching him" House explained.

"Good. Well I'll see you at dinner then" Cuddy said. And with that House left Cuddy's office.


	6. Family Dinner

Chapter 6

Chase looked up when Cameron and Foreman came walking into the office. "How's Gabe?" he asked.

"He's got leprosy," Cameron said.

"Still on the paperwork huh?" Foreman goaded "what did you do?"

"Why is Wilson in House's office?" Cameron asked. Chase silently thanked her for getting Foreman's attention off of him however he knew it would be short lived seeing as how Wilson was in there because he was babysitting him.

"He's meeting with a patient," Chase answered.

"Yeah, I can see that" Foreman said "but why is he meeting with a patient in House's office and not his own?"

"Because I was taking a nap in his" House said joining the conversation.

"And you couldn't take a nap in your own office because…" Cameron said.

"Because my office has windows and Wilson's doesn't" House finished.

"Gabe is responding to the leprosy medication" Foreman said

"Is there something on my cane?" House asked Chase.

Chase had been staring at House's cane for the past few minutes something nagging at the edge of his brain. "Don't forget to start the dad on the same meds" Chase said suddenly.

"Why would we do that?" Foreman asked

"Because leprosy is in his wrist" House said smirking. Having finally figured out why Chase was staring at his wrist.

Both Cameron and Foreman headed out the room to go start the dad on the same meds as the kid.

"Nice catch" House said to Chase.

"Thanks" Chase said. He watched House warily, "So you finish talking with Cuddy?" he asked.

"Yep" House said heading toward the door between the outer office and his office.

"And?" Chase asked.

"And you need to get back to work" House said as he entered his office. "Wilson your job is over thank you for coming." House said to his friend.

"Anytime" Wilson said. "You and Cuddy figure things out?" Wilson asked looking over at Chase who quickly ducked his head back down over the paperwork.

"Yep, I'll tell you about it later" House said.

Wilson ducked out of the office and House sat down at his desk and turned his T.V. on. It was time for his soaps.

House and Chase sat in silence for the next couple of hours until Cameron and Foreman came back in.

"You were right the dad also has leprosy," Cameron told them.

"Good. Well that ends another case," House said and then walked back into the office.

Cameron and Foreman sat down at the table. Foreman pulled out a medical journal and Cameron watched Chase. Eventually Chase gave up and looked back at Cameron "Is there something I can help you with?" he asked her.

"Are you going to join us?" Cameron asked.

"Can't you tell he's in trouble? That's why he's doing the paperwork" Foreman interjected.

"You're in trouble?" Cameron asked looking back at Chase.

"Supposedly" Chase said irked.

"What did you do?" Cameron asked.

"Does it matter? He's stuck there. Just let it be" Foreman said.

Cameron was annoyed but let it drop. She looked around searching for something to do. Typically she would do the paperwork but since Chase was now tasked with that so spying the crossword that Chase usually worked on she picked it up.

House looked out at his outer office about two hours later watching his fellows. Foreman was sitting reading a medical journal and ignoring the other two. Cameron was sitting working on a crossword puzzle only she seemed to be having difficulties with it though since she was discussing every clue with Chase although that could also have to do with her trying to be nice to Chase who she now knew was in trouble. Chase was working on the paperwork and helping Cameron with the crossword. House knew that Chase wasn't supposed to be doing anything other than the paperwork but since the whole point of giving him the job was because he refused to take the morning off then House saw no point in stopping the crossword.

House let them all sit there for another hour and a half until it was 1830. "Alright people it is time to head home for the night. I will see you back here at 0800 bright and early tomorrow morning" House said walking into his outer office.

All three of them stood up. Cameron and Foreman were the closest to the door so they were out first. Chase stood up and started heading for the door but House stopped him "Where do you think you're going?" he asked.

"I'm heading out" Chase answered a bit confused. House said that he could go so he was planning on heading down and picking up a shift in the E.R., they always needed some help.

"No. You, Cuddy and I all have a dinner date tonight remember." House said "so find a seat and relax she'll be here any minute"

"You said we could go" Chase responded.

"Alright, where is it that you were planning on going?" House asked.

"I… was going to head out" Chase said, he never could lie to House properly. When he'd first started here he'd actually tried to lie to House and if he'd been talking to anyone else they would have believed him but not House. After a while Chase had just given up, it's not like House had ever really cared anyway so there was no point. Now it appeared that he should have been practicing his skills with House not removing them.

"Out where?" House asked. He could tell that Chase was skirting the truth, wherever Chase was going he didn't want House to know and since the only thing that Chase would feel the need to lie about doing at the moment was working that really told House all he needed to know. Now he just had to get Chase to admit it.

"I wa.. was going to the…" Chase stalled. Damn he hated this, he'd never needed to lie to House before but then again House had never asked before. Why was he asking now?

"Which department were you going to go work in? NICU? The ER? The Clinic? Where?" House asked. He decided to put Chase out of his misery and just ask him straight.

"I… How did you know?" Chase asked a bit confused. He shouldn't be really though. He knows that House has always knows whether he wanted him to or not.

"It's the only reason you'd lie to me right now" House said simply "Where?" he asked again.

Chase sighed. There was no getting out of this "The ER, they always need some help, never turned me down before." He answered.

House was about to question exactly how often Chase had gone down there looking for work but Cuddy stepped into the office at that moment carrying three styrofoam containers in one hand and a drink carrier in the other. "Foods here" she said.

House went over and shut the door and the curtains giving the newfound family some privacy, granted only two of them know this but still. Cuddy set the food and drinks down on the table and then grabbed a chair. House came over and took the seat next to Cuddy and then both looked up at Chase.

Chase sighed; apparently they were serious about this. "Fine" he said and he pulled out a chair and slumped down in it.

"Good. Now I wasn't quite sure what you liked so I got you a burger and had them put everything on the side so you could top it with what you want." Cuddy said as she handed Chase a container.

"Thanks" Chase said quietly. This felt odd. He looked over at the drink carrier and saw two cups of what he guessed was soda and then one container of white milk. He wasn't one for milk so he started reaching over for one of the cups but before he could get a cup Cuddy picked up the milk and put it in his hand. "Um. I don't really drink milk" Chase said trying to put it back.

"It's good for you. You're still young, you need the calcium, as a doctor you should know that" Cuddy said picking it up and placing it in front of Chase's food.

Chase looked quickly at House and then back a Cuddy. While Cuddy knew how old he really was but House didn't, or he wasn't supposed to. "That's nice but I really don't drink much milk" Chase said.

"Are you allergic to milk?" House asked

"No" Chase answered

"Then drink it" House said.

"But…"Chase started

"Drink it" House ordered.

Chase sighed but stopped arguing. This didn't seem to be a good start to the dinner for him. He had already lost a fight and the punishment part hadn't even started yet. Chase decided to move on for now and opened the container. The burger was there and all of the toppings were on the side however instead of the fries that one would expect to see there was corn and some chips. Chase was starting to feel like a child what with the more or less healthy meal and the milk but what could he say, technically it was his own age that caused Cuddy to think of him as a child. He'd just have to show her that he was really an adult.

"Eat" Cuddy said pointing her fork at Chase's food.

Chase sighed but started eating. This might be harder than he thought.

They all ate their meals. Cuddy and House took up conversation trying to include Chase but he wasn't paying enough attention to keep up. Chase couldn't help but think how strange this all was. House and Cuddy rarely got along and yet here they were having dinner and holding a conversation as though it were the most normal thing in the world. The both of them kept prodding him to eat whenever he stopped. This was just too strange they were acting as though this was all normal and happened every day but why?

If Chase didn't know any better he'd say they were acting like parents. They were having a family dinner with two parents and a 'kid' and they were pestering Chase to eat all of his food (ie the corn and milk that he'd been neglecting) and once the meal was over they would be doling out the punishment.

Chase sighed. He really wasn't looking forward to the punishment part and honestly constantly wondering what they were going to do to make his life miserable were not all that appealing. Wanting to get it out of the way he set down his fork and looked up at the two of them "Can we get this over with?" he asked.

House looked at him for a moment before nodding his head "Sure"

"Good" Chase said.

"You were told that you weren't allowed to work on the case for twenty-four hours and that you were to do nothing until all of the paperwork was complete." Cuddy started.

"The paperwork should take you about a week to finish meaning that you would have been basically grounded to that desk for a week however you decided to sneak out and do some testing" House said.

"I did not sneak out" Chase interjected.

"No? Then what would you call it?" House asked sarcastically.

"I used my break to learn some new information about the patient" Chase said diplomatically.

"Right, and the fact that I had banned you from working on the case for twenty-four hours allows that how?" Cuddy asked.

Chase looked over at her "You are not my boss and thus have no control over whether or not I can work a case" he said.

"But I am your boss and I've already told you that I agree with her. I told you that after you made the same argument when she gave you the punishment in the first place." House said. "Now stop playing stupid and answer the question"

Chase crossed his arms but answered "I wanted to run the tests and it was my break so I did it. I doubted that the two of you would allow it but I'm an adult and it was my break"

"It's my hospital with my equipment so if I say you can't use it then you can't adult or not" Cuddy said "Now. You have given us your reason…"

"And a piss poor one at that" House threw in.

"A bad reason yes. Now we have given you a chance to explain what you did we will tell you your punishment." Cuddy finished.

Chase sat there watching them, waiting for one of them to finish.

Cuddy didn't make him wait long "Because you went against my orders you are banned from all cases and clinic duty…"

"And any work in any department in this hospital" House added remembering the conversation he and Chase were having before Cuddy walked in.

"And anywhere else" Cuddy agreed shooting House a curious look "for two weeks"

"Two weeks!" Chase exclaimed. This was stupid "How do you go from one day to two weeks?" he asked.

"Because my punishment, which you also disobeyed, would have originally lasted a week and we're ending them at the same time" House explained.

"Would have ended?" Chase asked a little nervous. Cuddy's punishment sucked but House was an evil mastermind. What had he come up with?

"You now get to work on nothing but paperwork for the next two weeks. When you finish what's on the desk I have plenty more so you don't need to be worried about getting bored." House said

"Ohhh" Chase groaned. He slumped back in his chair contemplating how horrible these next two weeks were going to be. Maybe if he finished all of the paperwork before time was up the punishment would be lifted. House couldn't create unlimited paperwork now could he?

"Now since we clearly can't trust you to stay here and work while unsupervised there will be some rules," Cuddy said.

"Rules" Chase said shocked.

"Yes rules. First: when House can't be here either myself or Wilson will be"

"I don't need a babysitter" Chase interjected

"Yeah cause you haven't snuck off to go behind our backs before" House said sarcastically. Chase slumped back in his chair once again and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Second: since you have showed no signs of keeping healthy eating habits…"

"What! I.." Chase interrupted.

"You didn't eat breakfast because there was no time to do so before you came in, you didn't eat lunch because you would rather run tests behind out backs and you weren't planning on eating dinner because you would rather run down to the ER and pick up a shift or two so no you have shown that you have zero healthy eating habits because you have zero eating habits period" House said.

"What?" Cuddy asked. She had yet to hear about Chase planning on picking up a shift.

"I do eat" Chase stated

"Yes you clearly eat at some point seeing as how you're not severely malnourished however you're are about ten pounds underweight and if you get any worse I will hook you up and feed you through a tube" House said to Chase. He then turned to Cuddy "Chase was trying to head out the door and go work in the ER after I let my employees go home for the night" House explained.

"OK new rule" Cuddy said turning to Chase "You are not allowed out of our sight until the two weeks is over. Honestly you weren't even planning on going home tonight?" Cuddy asked shocked.

"I was just picking up a shift since I hadn't been allowed to work all day" Chase defended himself "And how is that a new rule you already said I need a baby sitter"

"You were home last night for about four hours there was no way that you had a proper nights sleep and you hadn't gone home for two days before that" House said annoyed. What the hell had happened to his kid to make it so that he didn't seem to care about his own health and how had he not noticed it before? Well he'd be paying better attention now.

"It's not the same rule as the first one. The first rule applies to while we're at work the new one applies to after and outside of work" Cuddy said. She had put two and two together by this point as well and could tell that Chase clearly wasn't taking care of himself properly she just hoped it was only a short term thing. It had to be short term didn't it? Chase was still alive and he wasn't that bad off, he didn't appear overly tired ever so it had to be just a recent problem. At least she hoped.

"Forget it" Chase said indignantly. This was going too far. Making rules at work was one thing, they were his bosses but off work was his own time and he had no desire to let them take over there as well.

"I tell you what" House said "If I can go down to your locker and find nothing but your coat and bag then you can go home on your own"

"No.." Cuddy interrupted but House held up a hand to stop her.

"However if I find some type of luggage, suitcase, or duffle bag filled with a few sets of clothing and toiletries then you will be following all of the rules" House finished. "So do I need to go check your locker or will you be ready to go in fifteen minutes?"

Chase gulped. He knew what House would find in his locker. He didn't want to go with House but also knew that House would make his life a nightmare if he didn't. He would rather go with House now than have the man following him around for the next two weeks. House didn't need to know everything about him. His mind made up, albeit begrudgingly, Chase stood from his chair "I'll meet you in the parking lot" he said and walked out.

"How did you know?" Cuddy asked once Chase was out the door.

"It made sense. Chase wouldn't have been planning on picking up shifts without knowing that he would be able to change and shower somehow otherwise I'd notice and pester him about it. He was either planning on stopping by his place before coming in or he brought something. I told everyone to be here at 0800 tomorrow morning and if Chase picked up a shift in the ER he wouldn't be off until 0730 so he wouldn't have had time to go home. Thus he had to have brought the clothes with him and put the bag in his locker." House explained.

"Right well. You take him this week and I'll take him next" Cuddy said standing up and starting to head out the door.

"I'll just keep him with me for the two weeks" House said

"No. You don't get to keep him the entire time. He's my son too" Cuddy stated.

"But it would be easier if I kept him with me" House argued

"No. In fact you get him all day it would only be fair if he stayed with me for the two weeks" Cuddy said knowing House would fold there. She had logic on her side.

"Fine one week at mine and one at yours" House conceded.

"Good" Cuddy said and left the office herself.

House stood up, cleared the table and then headed out. It was time to take his son home.


	7. First Night at House's

Chapter 7

The ride over to House's place was quiet. Chase sat staring out the window and House kept sneaking glances at Chase.

Chase sat thinking over how things had changed so quickly for him and most of all wondering what had caused the changes. The only good news that had occurred during the day was that his father had left. The list of bad things however seemed to keep piling up. First: House was in the office early and had tried to force him to go home, Second: Cuddy had joined in the argument, Third: both House and Cuddy had punished him for refusing to go home and take the morning off which in hindsight was probably a stupid argument, if he'd have just left and gone to another department for a few hours no one would have been the wiser. Well you live you learn. Fourth: he was forced to sneak out to run tests, and he was caught having done so. Fifth: House hired a baby sitter for him. Sixth: Cuddy started treating him like a child and House went along with it. Seventh: House and Cuddy punished him again and finally Eighth: he was now being forced to go and spend two weeks at House's apartment. Life sucked sometimes.

House was thinking about Chase. He couldn't get his mind off of the fact that Chase was actually his son. Chase was his son and was staying at his place for a week. He was getting to keep his son with him for a week. He just found out he had a son and now that son would be in his home for a week. This was all so new and yet it was happening so fast. How was he supposed to handle things?

House pulled up in front of his apartment and the two men went inside. "You can take the spare room. It's this way" House said leading Chase down the hall and to the door on the right. "My room is right across the hall here" House said pointing to his door. "The bathroom is the door in-between" he finished pointing to the last door at the end of the hall. "I'll let you settle in. Come out to the living room when you're done"

"Right" Chase said. He opened the door to the spare room and looked around. The room was nicely furnished. There was a dresser by the far wall to the left of the window; there was a desk to the right of the window with a chair pushed in. The bed was to the left of the door about halfway down the wall and a bedside table to the left of the bed. The closet was between the right side of the bed and the dresser. It was a nice room but Chase didn't really want to be there, nonetheless, here he was.

If Chase wasn't so sure that House would tail him everywhere he went until he gave in. Chase really didn't want House to trail him; he did have some secrets he'd like to keep. Yes lots of secrets, lots and lots of secrets that he didn't want his boss to know about. His back would be the main one his nightmares being the other. Chase was thankful that he was able to hide the fact that his father terrified him from House, Cameron and Foreman however that didn't change the fact that he was. Every time that Chase saw his father, or even talked to the man, he would remember. He would remember his past and all the pain it involved. None of it was in his file but that's part of the benefit of being a doctor and an abusive father, you can keep what you do a secret.

Chase put his bag on the bed and decided to put up his clothes. If he was going to be stuck here for two weeks he didn't feel like living out of a suitcase the entire time. As he unpacked he realized that he had nothing to sleep in, it hadn't been a required item when he was planning to spend the week working at the hospital. Chase regretted now that he hadn't brought them but what could he do? He heard House mulling around in the living room and decided to finish up and head out before House came looking for him.

"Ah there you are" House said when Chase walked out.

"Yeah" Chase said. He felt awkward standing there in House's living room.

"You can sit you know" House said looking at him. The kid looked nervous and House was uncertain as to what to do himself. While he was pleased to have his son in his home House was uncertain as to what to do.

Chase sat awkwardly on the couch. He didn't know what to say to his boss outside of work, he'd never spent any time with any of his coworkers outside of work.

"So. How about some T.V.?" House asked. Dinner had already been eaten and it was a bit early for sleep. T.V. sounded like a god idea.

"Sure" Chase answered. He's never really had the time to watch T.V. before, his father had never allowed it growing up in fact they had never even owned a television. Chase had spent his youth outside, as far away from the house as possible, even after his father left. Once he was older and in university he had never had time to watch anything because he spent his time studying. The habit had just carried over to adulthood. Now here he was about to watch his first television program in his boss's apartment where he was basically being held captive.

"So what do you like?" House asked joining his son on the couch.

Chase didn't know how to answer that so he just stayed quiet figuring that if he didn't answer House would just pick something himself.

House waited for Chase's answer but the boy just sat there silently. "Do you have a favorite show?" he asked.

"No" Chase answered. How could he have a favorite show when he'd never watched a show?

"O.K. anything in particular you would like to try?" House asked. What was with the boy?

"No" Chase said again. He wasn't being rude just answering simply, he'd never heard of any shows so there were none he'd like to try. He never paid attention to the talk of others when it came to what they'd watched the night before so he never remembered the names.

"Alight" House was running out of ideas here. Typically he would just choose a show and make Chase watch it but this was his first night alone with his kid in his own apartment, he wanted the boy to be happy so he was trying to give him a choice. "Can you name any show that you have watched?" House asked.

"Um.. No" Chase answered. He looked down, he hadn't thought that House would really pry but this was rather embarrassing.

House looked over at Chase. The boy looked ashamed, what was there to be ashamed about? The way he was acting one would think that he'd never watched T… oh you had to be joking. "Chase" House started

"Yeah" Chase looked up

"Have you ever watched T.V. before?" House asked.

Chase looked down again and didn't answer, how could he?

House watched Chase's reaction, it answered his question as good as any verbal answer could. "Well then lets find the perfect first show for you" he said and flipped on the T.V.

House and Chase watched an old rerun of _The Pretender_. Once it was over House checked the clock it was 2130. Given that Chase hadn't had a proper nights sleep the night before, and probably for a while, and the kid still needed to shower it was time for him to call it a night. "Alrightie then" House said standing up and slapping Chase on the knee "I think that it's time for you to take a shower and then hop in bed."

"I'm fine" Chase responded. He didn't really want to go to bed for fear of nightmares. Also he wasn't a child and didn't like that House was telling him he had to go to bed now. "Lets watch another show," he suggested.

"Wasn't a suggestion" House said standing up and heading toward the spare room. He walked in and started looking for Chase's nightclothes but was surprised to find that there were none. "What do you sleep in?" House asked.

Chase followed House into the room "I… Uh… didn't really…"

"You didn't pack any thinking that you wouldn't need any" House surmised. That wasn't a good thing, there were nearly a weeks worth of clothes here and yet not a single set of nightclothes. "How long were you planning on staying at the hospital?" House asked.

"I don't really know" Chase answered honestly. He had planned to stay there until he felt tired and hungry, that had always told him that his father's affects were over and while that typically only lasted about three days who knew how long it would last this time. The typical time was for phone calls not face to face visits.

"Right" House said. He walked out of the room and headed toward his own. "Meet me in the bathroom" he called as he left.

"House I don't…" Chase called but House had already left so Chase gathered some underclothes and headed for the bathroom.

Chase stood there for a few minutes before House came through the door from the master bedroom. "Here" House said holding out some sleep pants and a t-shirt to Chase.

Chase took the clothes and looked them over, they were a bit big for him but then again House was a bit taller than him. "Uh… Thanks" he said.

"No problem" House said going over to the bath and setting the temperature on the shower. "Here it's all set" House said once the temperature was good. After having said that he turned around and headed out giving Chase some privacy.

Chase waited for House to leave before he locked both doors and then started to undress.

Once Chase was showered and dressed in the loaned nightclothes he headed out of the bathroom and back to the living room where he found House sitting on the couch watching a show. He went over and sat on the couch beside him.

House paused the show and looked over at Chase "I thought you were going to bed after your shower" he said.

"No, you said that I never agreed to it" Chase responded. No way was he being sent to bed like a child.

House looked at him "Bed" he stated.

"I'm not going to bed" Chase said

"Not a request"

"I'm not going to bed"

House looked over at the boy, he definitely was stubborn. If he was anything like him, and House guessed that he probably was, then arguing wasn't going to go too far, not a problem he had prepared for this. "Fine" he said, he picked up a book and settled in.

Chase looked around the room for something to read but it seemed that House had thought ahead because there were no other reading material around. Chase reached over for the remote to see what else was on but House grabbed it and set it out of his reach. "What am I supposed to do?" Chase asked.

"Sleep" House answered simply

"I'm not going to sleep" Chase said getting irritated. He continued looking around the room and spotted the guitars and the piano; that could work. Chase hadn't played in a long time but he always had loved it, if his father hadn't gotten rid of all of the instruments in the house then Chase would probably still be playing today. He stood up and headed over.

"Leave the instruments alone" House called over.

"But…" Chase started.

"No" House said "It's bedtime"

"I'm not going to bed!" Chase said again but he walked over and slumped back down on the couch. He looked over at House but the man still had his nose buried in his book. Chase was determined that he would not go to bed so he crossed his arms and stared straight ahead.

It took about an hour before Chase was so bored that he finally gave up and headed into the spare room.

"Night" House called out as Chase left.

"Whatever" Chase said snarkily.

House smiled at Chase's response, the kid really sounded like a teenager.

Chase climbed into the bed and settled down. Maybe he would be lucky and he wouldn't have any nightmares tonight. The ones last night had been bad; they were the main reason that Chase had packed for a week at the hospital instead of the usual two to three days. He had no desire to go through them again.

Try as he might though Chase really was tired and the bed was comfortable and he was warm. It didn't take long for him to fall asleep. A few minutes later House walked into the room to check on him. When House saw that Chase was asleep he pulled the covers up to his son's chin and then headed out the door to his own bed.


	8. Breakfast

Chapter 8

House was woken around 0200. He looked around trying to discern what had aroused him, it took a few minutes but he eventually heard it, a small whimper coming from the spare room. House was out of bed immediately, heading to his son.

Chase startled awake from a nightmare, it wasn't his first of the night but it was the first one that he hadn't been able to keep quiet. Chase sighed when he saw House in the doorway; he'd been trying to avoid waking him up. "Sorry" Chase said.

"What are you sorry for?" House asked. What had the kid done wrong?

"For waking you" Chase said, "it won't happen again"

House went over to the bed and sat down, he would stand but his leg was bothering him. "Are you apologizing for having a nightmare?"

"Yes" Chase said. Why was House questioning this? He hadn't meant to wake him and said that he would keep it down what more was there to say?

Why was Chase apologizing for having a nightmare? House was actually slapping himself; he really should have known that Chase wouldn't sleep well after having gotten so obviously upset by his… by Rowan's visit. "There's no reason to apologize for having a nightmare," House said

"I woke you" Chase said simply. He was getting tired of this conversation; trying to end it he turned his head away and closed his eyes.

"You didn't wake me on purpose," House said but he knew it was useless. Chase wasn't in the mood to talk right now, the nightmare had clearly scared him House just wished that he knew why. Chase turned farther away from House pulling at his blankets and putting a strain on his shirt and the shirt collar was pulled down.

House was watching at Chase hoping that the boy would respond but knowing that he wouldn't. After a few minutes he started to get up but in moving he got out of the way of the light coming in from the crack in the door. He stopped when he saw the tips of scars on Chase's back, what the hell? He'd never seen those before but then he'd never seen Chase without a shirt on before why would he have. House wanted to pull up Chase's shirt and get a better look but he knew that Chase wouldn't allow that so he sighed, stood up and headed back to his room. "Sleep well" he said as he walked out the door.

Once House left Chase turned back around. Why had House tried to continue the conversation? It wasn't like House to actually care he never had in the past and there was no real change that had occurred in the past few days other than his father coming to visit. Chase had considered his father being the catalyst but House had been the one to force his father onto the case and try to cause a fight so clearly that hadn't changed anything. Clearly the change happened between the time that his father left and the following morning when Chase ran into House the only question was, what was it that caused the change?

Chase sighed. He was never going to get an answer out of House, that was a given, the man was too secretive and too good of a liar. No House wasn't the way to the answer however Cuddy just might be. Cuddy was acting just as weird as House was and she was nowhere near as good a liar as House. Cuddy would be easier to crack so Cuddy was the person he needed to talk to.

With that decision made Chase decided to occupy the rest of his night by looking around House's kitchen deciding what to make for breakfast. He was sure to be quiet for he didn't want to wake House again; he was good at being quiet past experience being enough of a teacher. Chase honestly hadn't meant to wake House up, he had usually been able to keep quiet during a nightmare but sometimes they were just so bad that he couldn't help it.

Chase had learned long ago that it was a bad idea to wake someone from their sleep. In college he had been thrown out of the dorm room when he did so. On the rare occasions he had awoken his mother out of her booze induced stupor she would just beat him until he fell unconscious and then pass out herself. His father had locked him in the garage for an entire week the first time he'd spent the night screaming out. Chase had been five and he hadn't learned to keep quiet yet. It was the last week of school and he was afraid of the summer and having nowhere to go during the majority of the day in order to get away from his parents. The end of school meant that his parents didn't have to be as cautious about the bruises that they left since there wouldn't be anyone to question them. Chase had spent the past two nights waking up three or four times screaming out in pain and his father was sick of it. On the third night his father had come into his room, grabbed him by his hair, dragged him to the basement and locked the door.

Chase was forced to spend his first week of summer in the basement alone. Every morning the maid would bring a bag with a bottle of water and a sandwich and leave it by the door. It was the worst week of his life. There were no windows in the basement and the air-conditioner didn't work down there. Australia summers were hot and he never stopped sweating, the one bottle of water a day was barely enough. There was a toilet in the basement but there wasn't a shower, tub or sink so there was no way to get more water. By the time his father had finally let him out he had learned to keep quiet in his sleep.

House's reaction to being woken up was different than he'd expected, well he really didn't know what he'd expected but slight caring and confusion was not it. That was the reason that Chase wanted to make House breakfast, sort of a thank you for not being cruel and an I'm sorry for waking you up all rolled into one. He looked through the cabinets to see what there was available.

House took a little while to get back to sleep. What had caused those scars on Chase's back? Why was he apologizing for having a nightmare? House had always known that Rowan had neglected Chase and that he had left him and his mother when Chase was a teenager, which meant that Chase had to take care of an alcoholic mother on his own. Had House missed that Chase had been abused? House contemplated these questions as he fell back to sleep.

When House woke up again it was to the pleasant aroma of eggs, bacon and many other smells that he couldn't place but were pleasant. He rolled over and looked at the clock it was 0645. It was earlier than he usually got up but since he needed to have Chase at work by 0800 it was a good a time as ever. The aroma from the kitchen wasn't too bad a motivator either.

House walked into the kitchen and watched Chase for a moment. The boy had his back to House and was busy cooking, he was jumping between the stove and the oven and the counter either checking, stirring or chopping. When Chase wasn't working on the food he was cleaning up his mess, the kitchen was spotless.

Chase turned when he felt House's eyes on him. "Morning" he said.

"Morning" House replied.

Chase went back to working on breakfast. It wasn't long before he and House were sitting at the table looking at a table loaded with eggs, bacon, biscuits, sausage gravy and apple pie muffins. The rest of the kitchen was already cleaned and the pots and pans used were washed and put away.

House loaded his plate, it all smelled really good and he was pleased to find that it tasted even better. House had completed half his plate before he looked up and noticed that Chase wasn't actually eating. Chase had put little food on his plate and he hadn't done anything but push it around his plate. "Not hungry?" House asked.

Chase looked up at House "Not really" he said. He just wasn't hungry after last night he never was after a bad night.

House watched him. Chase seemed a little shaken up and House guessed that it was over the nightmare from last night. He let it go, he didn't think that he'd be too hungry after a rough night either. "Alright, why don't you go get ready for work then?" House said.

"Yeah" Chase said. He pushed back from the table and took his plate over to the sink. "Let me know when you're done and I'll come and clean up" he said.

"You already cooked, and cleaned you don't need to clear the table also" House said.

"It's no trouble" Chase said.

"I didn't bring you here so that you could be my maid" House said "Now go get ready for work and I'll take care of clearing the table"

Chase hesitated for a minute then nodded his head in agreement and headed out.

House finished eating, after having three servings, and then put what was left into tubberware containers before heading to his own room to get ready for the day.

Thirty minutes later both House and Chase were headed out to work. It didn't take long to get there and they walked in and straight to the office. Once again Chase was the first one in the office and he headed right to the coffee machine to get the first pot started for the day.

Chase was hoping that House wouldn't hold him to the punishment he assigned with Cuddy seeing as how House never agreed with Cuddy. He was sadly mistaken.

"Paperwork time" House said as he turned and headed for his office.

Chase sighed but headed over to the desk and started working. A little while later Cameron and Foreman joined them and they all settled into their same positions as yesterday. Foreman reading, Chase working on the paperwork and Cameron working on crossword puzzles aloud and encouraging the assistance of both men. They kept this up until lunch when House stepped out of his office and sent Cameron and Foreman out to lunch.


	9. Lunch With Cuddy

Chapter 9

Once Cameron and Foreman were out of the room Chase stood up and walked over to House. "So" he sighed, "lunch." Chase wasn't thrilled about having to have lunch with House, or lunch at all since he still wasn't that hungry, but since it was one of the rules here he was.

House looked over at Chase, he wanted to take the boy to lunch but Cuddy had already texted him to say that since House got Chase for breakfast and dinner then Cuddy would get him for lunch and they could switch next week. House didn't like it but what could he do, Cuddy had a point. "Yes and no" House answered Chase.

"What?" Chase asked.

"You're going to Cuddy for lunch" House said.

"Oh" Chase answered. He wasn't sure he wanted to. Cuddy was the one that he wanted to talk to because she was the one most likely to crack but at the same time Cuddy was also the one that was most likely to make him eat.

"Go on" House said tilting his head towards the door.

"You trust me to go all on my own without getting lost" Chase asked sarcastically.

And there was that lovely attitude again, House thought. Once again House felt that overwhelming urge to tell Chase to drop the attitude but he just couldn't do it because Chase wouldn't understand. Maybe telling Chase would be a good idea but then again maybe it wouldn't be. "I'll be letting Cuddy know you're on your way as soon as you leave so she'll know when to expect you." House said.

Chase huffed and stormed out of the office heading, begrudgingly, down to Cuddy's office.

House texted Cuddy to let her know that Chase was on his way down. Once he had informed Cuddy to expect their kid in about five minutes he headed out the door to Wilson's office.

"What's up House?" Wilson asked not looking up from his paperwork, no one else would enter without knocking first.

"I need a babysitter in about an hour" House said.

"You don't have a case" Wilson said.

"I need to talk to Cuddy"

"Cameron and Foreman will be in there with him"

"They have clinic hours"

"Fine"

"Thank you"

"Lunch?" Wilson asked standing up and grabbing his suit jacket.

"Sounds good" House answered.

Chase walked into Cuddy's office without knocking and practically slammed the door closed. "What's going on?" he demanded.

Cuddy looked up when Chase entered. Well he definitely got the lack of respect from House she thought. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"You and House are treating me like a child" Chase said irritatedly.

Cuddy stood up and headed over to the table in her office that had two meals sitting at it. "You are a child," she said calmly "sit, it's time for lunch." Cuddy sat down and looked over at Chase patiently.

Chase huffed "I'm not a child" he said indignantly.

"You're nineteen" Cuddy said simply.

"Nineteen is an adult"

"Sit down" Cuddy said/ordered.

"What's going on with you and House?" Chase asked.

"Sit down," Cuddy said again.

"What's going on with you and House?" Chase asked more forcefully this time.

Cuddy stood up and crossed her arms leveling Chase with that look that all mother's can give that let their children know that they are on thin ice. "Sit down, we can talk after we eat" she ordered.

Chase stared her down for a couple of minutes but then he huffed and slumped down at the table. "Happy now?" he asked snarkily.

"Eat" Cuddy said. Like House she was also tempted to tell Chase to drop the attitude but she held back.

Chase looked down at the food in front of him, it was a turkey, cheese and lettuce sandwich with red jello and a fruit salad along with an apple juice to drink. Oh goody another healthy meal, Chase thought. "I don't drink apple juice" he said.

"It's good for you" Cuddy said simply "Now eat"

"I'm not hungry. What's going on with you and House?" Chase asked trying to get back on topic.

"I told you that we would talk after you eat. You don't eat, we don't talk" Cuddy said.

Chase huffed and looked down at his food, he really wasn't all that hungry and he was tired of being treated like a child. Making up his mind he pushed the food away from him, crossed his arms, leaned back in his chair and stared at Cuddy.

Cuddy ignored him, she was used to the petulant treatment from House so this wasn't intimidating. Once Cuddy had finished eating she grabbed a folder from off of her desk and then sat back down at the table and started working.

"You're done eating so what is going on with you and House?" Chase asked.

"You haven't eaten yet, I told you. You don't eat, we don't talk" Cuddy answered pushing Chase's plate back in front of him and then going back to her work.

Chase didn't even look down at his food just continued staring at Cuddy.

They stayed in their positions (Cuddy working and Chase staring) until the lunch hour was up. Once the hour mark had hit Chase pushed away from the table and made to get up. "Sit down" Cuddy said.

"Lunch hour's up" Chase said though she did lower himself back into the chair.

"You haven't eaten anything so for you lunch is still going"

"I'm not hungry"

"Then you will sit here until you are" Cuddy said standing up and moving back to her desk. She still had a clear view of Chase from her seat but she needed her laptop and phone so she had to move.

"House will be expecting me"

"I'll let him know that you'll be with me until further notice" Cuddy said picking up her phone and sending a quick text to House.

"Since when have you and House become so buddy, buddy?" Chase asked.

"Eat" Cuddy said then turned back to her work.

Chase sat there staring straight ahead for another fifteen minutes before he really started to get bored. He couldn't see Cuddy from where he was and she had told him to face his food about fourteen minutes ago so he had no source of entertainment and thus he was getting bored. He hadn't meant to but he started to nod off sitting there.

Cuddy was busy with work and hadn't noticed that Chase had fallen asleep since he was still sitting up. Cuddy didn't know anything was up until she saw Chase squirming around; she walked over to take a look and saw that Chase's eyes were closed and he looked as though he was in pain. She reached out and touched his shoulder intending to gently shake him away but Chase shot out of his seat and far away from Cuddy.

"Whoa, easy there" Cuddy said as she held up her hands in a non-threatening gesture and eased her way towards Chase.

Chase looked up at Cuddy and for a few moments he looked scared and confused. It took a little while but he soon calmed down and realized what he had done. "I'm sorry" he said hurriedly as he stood up and went to put the chair back up from where it had been tipped over. "I'm sorry" he said again.

"What happened?" Cuddy asked as she went over to Chase's side.

Chase looked up at her and then back down at the table, the food was still there but Chase now felt even stronger about not wanting to eat. That nightmare had definitely unsettled him. "I'm sorry" Chase said again.

Cuddy was getting really tired of that mantra; she wanted to know what Chase had been dreaming about because it clearly wasn't pleasant. She also wanted to know why Chase was so tired since he was sent home with House last night at a decent hour. "What happened?" Cuddy asked again, "what were you dreaming about?"

Chase kept his head down; he didn't want to have this conversation with anyone let alone with Cuddy. What was he doing? He had woken House up last night and now he was interrupting Cuddy's work it was humiliating. He'd get up and leave now but he needed this job, it wasn't common for someone to hire a teenage doctor or a twenty-one year old doctor. "I'm sorry" he said again.

"You have nothing to be sorry for" Cuddy insisted. She reached over and laid her hand on his shoulder, he flinched when she initially touched his shoulder but he didn't move away. "Now what happened?"

"Nothing" Chase sighed. He wasn't going to tell Cuddy it would be too humiliating.

"That was not nothing Chase" Cuddy said.

Chase raised his head and looked directly at her "Please" he pleaded.

"Chase" Cuddy said softly, caringly. She started to rub up and down on Chase's back trying to calm him and make him feel better, it seemed to be working as she felt Chase loosen up a little at a time.

Chase looked back down at the table, his emotions were still reeling from his nightmare and Cuddy's actions were confusing him. No one had ever treated him kindly, especially after a nightmare, and yet House had been nice last night and here Cuddy was trying to comfort him. He sat there letting Cuddy rub his back, it wasn't something that had ever happened to him before but it felt nice, comforting, like something that a mother would do. Chase wouldn't know of course seeing that his own mother was always intoxicated and wanted nothing to do with him unless it was to hit him. His mother's idea of a comforting gesture was to lock him in his father's study for hours on end while she drank and shot up, she didn't want him to have to watch her stick a needle into her arm.

Chase sat there stuck in his own memories while Cuddy continued to try and comfort him. He was so confused both emotionally and mentally and soon he felt wet streaks rolling down his face and he didn't even remember when he'd started to cry.

Cuddy watched Chase as he struggled with some demon in his mind. There was obviously something bothering him but she couldn't figure out what. When she saw that Chase was crying she reacted on instinct and wrapped him in her arms pulling his face to her neck.

Chase tried to pull back at first but it was a weak attempt at best and he knew it. He'd never been one for physical comfort but this just felt so nice, so right and he didn't think he wanted it to end. It scared him some but right now he just didn't have the energy to really think it over, he just allowed himself to be held and cried. He cried his heart out, he cried for all of the times he was locked in his father's study, he cried for all of the beatings and whippings, for the broken bones and the burns, he cried for all of the times he was locked in a dark room or scared his knees from being forced to kneel on rice for hours at a time. He cried for every sleepless night and every pain filled memory, for being abandoned to deal with his mother and then for every harmful word that his father had ever said to him after he left.

Chase didn't know how long he had cried for, he didn't even remember stopping. The next thing Chase remembered after having cried himself to sleep on Cuddy shoulder was waking up in the bed in the spare room in House's apartment. He sat up and looked around the room. How did he get here? "What happened?" he wondered allowed.


	10. What Caused This?

Chapter 10

Cuddy had been surprised when Chase had leaned into her and allowed her to comfort him while he was crying. She was also surprised with how long Chase had cried for, it took about forty-five minutes before she felt Chase's breathing even out and he slumped forward and put more of his weight on her. Cuddy didn't know what to do, she didn't want to wake him but she couldn't stay like that all day. It took a few minutes but eventually she remembered that she could actually ask House for help, which was an odd revelation, and she reached down to get her cellphone out of her pocket.

House was in his office when he received Cuddy's text to come and help her and to bring Wilson. It was an odd request but House went and gathered his friend and then they headed down to Cuddy's office. "What's wro…" House asked as he walked in but stopped once he saw Chase with his head resting on Cuddy's shoulder and he looked to be sleeping.

"He fell asleep and I need you to help me get him to the couch without waking him" Cuddy whispered.

"Here, I got this" Wilson said as he walked forward and gently lifted Chase out of the chair by putting his legs under one arm and his torso under the other. He placed Chase on the couch and then stepped back.

Cuddy walked over and put the throw blanket from the back of the couch over Chase then brought one of the chairs from the table over and put it next to Chase's head and sat down.

"What happened?" House asked as he too brought a chair over and sat next to his son.

"I don't know" Cuddy said. She absently started running her hand through Chase's hair "He was sitting at the table refusing to eat lunch and then he fell asleep. I came over when I saw him squirming around and tried to wake him but he jumped away as though I had hurt him. Eventually he calmed down and then he just kept repeating…"

"I'm sorry" House interrupted remembering that familiar saying from when he went to Chase after his nightmare last night.

"Yeah" Cuddy said, "how'd you know?"

"Because that was the same mantra that he kept repeating last night after he had a nightmare" House said.

Cuddy sighed and then looked down at her sleeping son, what had happened to make Chase so worried about having a nightmare? What caused the nightmares?

"Why does he look as though he's been crying?" House asked looking at Chase's face and noting the red and puffy eyes.

"Because when he'd finally sat down he started crying. What could he have been dreaming about that was so bad it would make him cry for forty-five minutes?" Cuddy asked looking imploringly at House.

House looked down at Chase with concern. What could have happened that would make the boy cry for forty-five minutes? What could possibly be so bad? House sighed, he had a guess but he wasn't sure. Should he tell Cuddy?

"House!" Cuddy insisted. She could tell that House knew, or at least suspected, something and she wanted to know what it was.

"This is neither the time nor place to be having this conversation" House said.

"Fine then lets take him to my place and we'll talk" Cuddy said standing up and gesturing to Wilson to come and pick-up Chase, he was finally getting some sleep and she didn't want to disrupt that.

"No" House said holding up his hand to stop Wilson.

"House" Cuddy said annoyed.

"He's staying at my place this week so that's where we'll go" House said "and if we don't plan on waking him first then we need to clear some type of path so as not to humiliate him by letting everyone see him being carried through the hospital like a small child"

Cuddy nodded her head, House made sense. "OK, we can take him out of the back entrance once we clear the lobby my car is right outside of the " she said.

"I'll handle that" House said as he turned and started walking out of Cuddy's office.

"How are you going to do that?" Cuddy asked skeptically.

"Hmm… There are so many ways to clear a busy lobby. Maybe I should go out there and yell fire" House said smirking; it was fun to rile Cuddy up.

"Never mind" Cuddy said standing up and heading to the exit herself "I'll take care of it"

A few minutes later House, Wilson, Cuddy and Chase were in Cuddy's car heading to House's apartment. It didn't take long to get there and Cuddy parked in House's spot right in front of the building. House led the way with Wilson, carrying Chase, in the middle and Cuddy bringing up the rear.

"He's staying in the guest room" House said to Wilson going to open the door and then went over to the dresser looking for the nightclothes that he'd given Chase the night before.

Cuddy walked in and turned down the bed for Chase then moved out of the way for Wilson to lay him down.

"Here, let's get him in these" House said bringing over the sleepwear.

"Right" Cuddy agreed.

"Are you sure that's wise?" Wilson asked.

"Why wouldn't it be?" Cuddy asked.

"Because Chase might not be too comfortable with the two of you undressing and redressing him while he's unconscious" Wilson explained.

"He'll be fine" House said as he took off Chase's tie and started to unbutton his shirt.

"House" Wilson admonished.

"Maybe he's right House" Cuddy said.

"He's not right" House stated.

"House" Cuddy said.

House unbuttoned Chase's shirt and looked up at Cuddy "I need to do this" he said.

"Why?" Cuddy asked.

"You asked me what I knew" House said in answer.

Cuddy paused for a minute. What could putting Chase in nightclothes have to do with telling her what House knew? But House always had a reason for his ideas especially when he was this adamant about them so she nodded her head and helped him to get Chase's dress shirt off. Once they had the dress shirt off they kept him up and started to remove his undershirt.

Cuddy was the first to see it. She pulled her hand away and gasped, she had not been expecting that. She wanted to deny it but she knew exactly what they meant and she couldn't help but think that she was in some way responsible for them. "They had promised that it was a good home" she said barely above a whisper.

"What?" Wilson asked coming over to try to get a look at what had disturbed Cuddy so.

House lifted up Chase's shirt and took it off of him then House took a good long look at Chase's back. He ran his hand over his son's back taking in all of the scars and burns that were present. "I'd hoped I was wrong" he said so low that it was hard for the others to hear.

Wilson and Cuddy looked over at him "You knew?" Cuddy asked.

"I suspected" House said as he reached over and grabbed the nightshirt and started to slip it over Chase's head.

"How?" Cuddy asked.

"Help me finish changing him and then we can go to the living room and talk" House said.

Cuddy agreed and together they finished dressing their son for sleep, pausing again when they noticed the small thin scars on his knees, and tucking him in. As they were heading out Cuddy turned and kissed the top of Chase's forehead before heading into the living room.

Wilson was already sitting on the couch, having left the room sometime earlier so that the parents could have some privacy while tucking their son in for the first time. When Cuddy came in and joined he and House Wilson stood up "I'm going to head back to work" he said.

"Why?" House asked.

"Because you and Cuddy need to talk and this is really something that the two of you should do together without an audience" Wilson explained. He gathered up his coat and headed out the door to grab a bus back to the hospital.

Cuddy turned to House demanding answers and House relayed the events of the precious night starting with finding something to watch on the T.V. and ending with cleaning up the table from breakfast, he also told her what little he knew of Chase's childhood. Once he had finished Cuddy leaned back and sighed. She knew that she couldn't have known but she still blamed herself for what happened to Chase, if she hadn't given the boy up then he wouldn't have had such a horrible childhood.

House saw the doubt and guilt cross Cuddy's face "It wasn't your fault. There's no way you could have known" he said.

"If I had kept him…" Cuddy started but House cut her off.

"You would have offered him a neglectful life while you were busy with school and furthering your career. You might even have grown to blame him for any shortcomings that you faced." House tried to reason, "You gave him the best chance you could think of. There was no way you could have known what would happen to him"

Cuddy sighed and leaned back into the couch. She knew logically that House was right, he always was, but emotionally she still couldn't help but feel guilty. "Do you think we've been to hard on him?" she asked.

"No" House said firmly "he disobeyed both of us and we gave him a reasonable punishment to fit the crime. We have done nothing wrong, we aren't harming him or mistreating him in any way in fact we've probably given him more positive attention than anyone ever has in his entire life. This is good for him even if he doesn't agree with it"

"Alright" Cuddy agreed "but we can't keep him in the dark any longer. He has a right to know and he's already been asking questions"

"No he hasn't" House said.

"Maybe not to you but he has to me" Cuddy said.

House smirked; Chase was his all right he knew how to pick out the best target for what he needed. He had already been playing a little with the idea of telling Chase, he wanted his son to know whom he was and he wanted to be able to put him to bed or to hug him like Cuddy had without Chase becoming confused and suspicious. "Alright we'll tell him but we take it slow" he said.

"Agreed" Cuddy said.

Cuddy and House sat in silence for a few minutes contemplating how exactly they were going to tell Chase the truth. They probably would have sat there for a long time but House's phone rang, it was his team informing him that they had a new case, a business executive or something. He sighed and stood up "Are you going to stay here or do I need to call Wilson?" he asked, he didn't want to leave Chase alone.

"I'll stay here" Cuddy said "could you please have Wilson bring me my laptop and the files off of my desk"

"I'll send him over" House agreed as he headed out the door to grab the bus and head to the hospital, he should have taken his car back here but he had wanted to be with his son.

Wilson dropped off the requested items not long after House had left and informed Cuddy that a man named Vougler had called looking for her and asked for a meeting. Cuddy thanked him and set to work.

House came back at around 2330 to find Cuddy still working on his couch, "I brought dinner" he said as he walked in carrying a bag of takeout.

They sat and ate and then House convinced Cuddy to take his bed and he fell asleep on the couch. They both awoke around 0650 the next morning thankful that it was finally the weekend. House went to work on breakfast and Cuddy made a quick trip home to get cleaned up and then hurried back arriving just as House was plating the food.

They both agreed to let Chase sleep as long as he needed since it was clear that he'd been having trouble sleeping for a while. Chase had stirred a few times since he was put to bed but each time either Cuddy or House was there to offer comfort and lull him back into a deep peaceful sleep before he even woke up.

Chase stirred around 1000, sat up and looked around "What happened?" he asked. He sat there for a few minutes as he slowly remembered the events of lunch with Cuddy the previous day. "Ohh…" he groaned mortified "what have I done?" He looked up when he heard two people entering his room; his face turned beat red when he saw that it was Cuddy and House. "What's going on?" he asked.

Cuddy and House looked to each other and then back at Chase "We need to talk" they said together.

"Are you going to tell me what's going on?" Chase asked.

"Yes" House answered.

"OK then" Chase said. Finally he was going to get some answers, he smiled slightly as he got out of the bed.

"But you still have to eat first" Cuddy informed him. Chase's smile left his face immediately.

"I'm not hungry" Chase said.

Oh how House and Cuddy were getting tired of hearing that "You didn't eat at all yesterday so you have to eat before we talk" Cuddy said.

"Yesterday!" Chase exclaimed quickly looking over at the clock and noting the time, he'd been asleep for over eighteen hours, crap. That's when Chase also noticed that he was no longer wearing his work clothes but rather his nightclothes "Who changed me?" he demanded.

"We both did" House answered.

Chase gulped. He didn't want either House or Cuddy to know about his scars and yet they had both seen them. "Look…" he started.

"We'll discuss it after you've eaten" House said softly pushing Chase out the door and towards the bathroom "use the restroom and then meet us in the kitchen"

Chase went into the restroom and locked the door. How had everything fallen apart so quickly? Why had he started to cry in Cuddy's office? Why had he allowed Cuddy to hug him? Why had he fallen asleep on Cuddy's shoulder? How had he not woken up when he was moved? Who had moved him, was it House? Cuddy? Or Wilson? Did Wilson know as well? And what was it that House and Cuddy were hiding and did Wilson know? He sighed, he wasn't going to get any answers until after he'd eaten of that he was sure Cuddy seemed to be rather touchy when it came to his eating habits.

Chase walked out into the kitchen still clad in his too big nightclothes and with his hair slightly disheveled from sleep. House and Cuddy looked up at him and couldn't help but smile, he looked so young and innocent and they couldn't help but want to wrap him up and never let anything bad happen to him ever again.

"Here, eat up" House said as he laid some leftovers from yesterdays breakfast in front of Chase along with a glass of orange juice.

Chase sighed as he stared down at the plate. There wasn't much there, at least not a normal adult-sized portion, but it was still more than he desired which was nothing. He wanted to push it away and refuse to eat but he wanted answers more and his stomach wasn't as rebelling as it had been the other morning. He knew he liked the food because he had cooked it and he liked his own cooking so that wasn't an issue but still he felt full already. "Is this really necessary?" he asked House and Cuddy who were also sitting at the table watching him.

"Yes!" they said together.

Chase sighed again but started in on his food. To his surprise he actually managed to eat all of his food in a rather short amount of time. When he finished he put his fork down and looked back up at House and Cuddy "Alright I've eaten now we talk," he stated.

"Yes now we talk" House agreed.


	11. Chase's Questions

Chapter 11

Chase looked from House to Cuddy waiting, not so patiently, for the answer to the question he had been asking repeatedly since lunch yesterday. "Well?" he asked when neither seemed to have answers forthcoming.

"Before we start you need to agree not to interrupt us until we're done and you need to keep an open mind" Cuddy said.

Chase looked at her skeptically but agreed since he was more interested in the answers to his question than the reasons behind the current request. At first the story they were telling held little interest for him, what did it matter that House and Cuddy had a one-night stand in college? It didn't really start to make sense until Cuddy started in on the adoption service who had found a stay at home mother and a doctor who had adopted that baby boy, then it made sense. "You think that I'm the baby?" he exclaimed.

"No" House answered, "We know you're our baby"

Chase looked at him "And how exactly do you know that?" he questioned.

"We ran a paternity and a maternity test" Cuddy answered.

"How did you get my DNA" Chase questioned.

"Your coffee mug" House said simply.

"Is this a joke?" Chase asked.

"No" Cuddy and House said together.

Chase sat back in the chair thinking over what he had just been told. This seemed crazy, incredible, psychotic, and … false. Yeah that was his first impression that this was all just some sick joke that House had concocted but if that were the case then Cuddy wouldn't have gone a long with it. It wasn't Cuddy's thing to help House in his more basic pranks so there was no chance of this being a prank if Cuddy was agreeing and they had provided him with the tests that they had done and they checked out. It was all there in front of him, the truth of what he had been told. It made some sense, he had always known that he was adopted, that was an easy fact to learn he looked nothing like his parents. It also explained why he felt slightly less defensive around Cuddy and House; it must have been his natural instincts kicking in and trying to tell him something. It also explained why House and Cuddy suddenly felt like they had a say in what he did now, well that was something he was going to put an end to and fast.

Chase looked up at Cuddy and House "This is why you've been acting strange?" he asked.

"Yes" Cuddy answered.

"OK" Chase said. He pushed his chair back and stood up heading towards the spare room.

"Where are you going?" Cuddy asked him standing up as well.

"To change" Chase said simply.

House studied him, there was something that Chase was leaving out of that answer he just knew it. "Then what?" he asked.

Chase stopped, he should have known that House would tell that he wasn't saying everything "to pack" he answered and then resumed his walk to the room.

House stood up and he and Cuddy walked into the spare room without knocking. Chase jumped when they entered, he had just taken off his shirt when they barged in. "What the hell!" he exclaimed.

"Language" Cuddy said automatically. She walked over to Chase and looked him in the eye "You're not going anywhere" she said.

"I'm leaving" Chase stated.

"No you're staying here as you have already been informed" House said still standing in the doorway. When he saw that Chase had turned back to the closet to continue gathering his things he walked over to stop him.

"I'm not staying here any longer" Chase said taking a shirt off of a hanger.

"You are still being punished" House said as he took the shirt from Chase and hung it back up.

"You aren't punishing me because I came in early or snuck out you're punishing me because you've just learned that you're my parents" Chase said trying to get to the closet.

"No we really are punishing you for disobeying us" Cuddy said as she came over and took hold of Chase's arms, he was trying to get House out of the way so that he could pack.

Chase jerked his arms away not wanting to be touched but Cuddy just grabbed his hands and held them instead. Chase tried to pull away but had no success as Cuddy led him over to the bed and made him sit down. Chase looked up at her "Why do you care that I came in early?" he asked.

"Because you're my son" Cuddy answered as she reached her hand up to push some loose strands of Chase's hair behind his ear. She didn't though; she stopped when Chase flinched away, her hand hung there in the air uncertain.

"Sorry" Chase said when he saw the hurt look on Cuddy's face.

"You have nothing to be sorry for" House said as he sat down on the bed on the other side of Chase.

"I upset her" Chase said looking over at House.

"No" Cuddy said lightly grabbing Chase's chin and turning him to face her "You have done nothing to upset me. It was a reaction that you learned when you were young and I am so sorry that you had to learn that"

Chase looked at her confused "What do you have to be sorry for?" he asked. "You haven't done anything to me"

"I gave you up and put you with them" Cuddy said.

Chase shook his head "You aren't the kind of person who would ever willingly send someone, especially a child, to someplace that would hurt them" he said confidently "Nothing that happened to me was your fault."

Cuddy had tears running down her face as she took in Chase's words, it was comforting to hear that he didn't blame her. "I never wanted that kind of a life for you" she said.

Chase studied her for a few minutes. He believed her but he still needed to see the truth in her before he accepted "I know" he said quietly.

Cuddy pulled Chase into a hug before he was able to pull away. Chase fought the hold for a few moments but soon enough he stopped and just let her hug him. This was the first time that he'd ever been hugged, aside from when he had that breakdown the day before, and he wasn't quite sure what to do. He looked nervously over at House and semi-shrugged his hands hoping that he'd get the hint and help him out.

House looked at Chase and could see the boy was confused. Who was confused by a hug? Everyone knew how to hug didn't they? But as House watched Chase he could see that the boy had no idea what to do "Have you ever been hugged before?" he asked.

Cuddy pulled back and looked at Chase a bit stunned. "Sure I have" Chase said not wanting to make Cuddy feel bad.

House looked at him "Other than yesterday?" he asked to clarify.

Chase looked down. House always knew when he was lying and Chase hated that about him, guess it had something to do with the parent thing he mused. He didn't want to answer the question and in truth his silence and body language answered it anyway. This time both House and Cuddy wrapped their arms around him and he was taken by surprise, he had just been hugged by one person for the first time and now he had two people hugging him and he still didn't know what to do with his hands.

Eventually House and Cuddy pulled back, Chase could see that Cuddy had been crying and that House was rather upset. He hadn't meant to upset them, which had never been his goal he just didn't know what to do. "I'm sorry," he said.

House was trying really hard not to stand up right there and hunt down Rowan Hawkren and beat the man senseless for all that he had done to Chase. "You've done nothing!" Hose stated firmly, "You have nothing to apologize for" he laid his hand on Chase's back as much for comfort for the boy as for House's own comfort in knowing that his son was right next to him and in one piece. They could work on the emotional trauma together, the three of them, but right now House just wanted the physical assurance that Chase was really sitting right next to him.

Cuddy and House could both see that Chase was still exhausted despite having slept for a good eighteen hours the night before. "Why don't you lay down for a bit" Cuddy suggested.

Chase's head shot up immediately, the last thing he wanted to do was sleep, he knew that he was still tired he hadn't slept well since the day his father appeared and that was over a week ago. He also knew that last night, while yes he had slept, he had clearly had more than a few nightmares since he was still feeling tired. What was odd was that he hadn't woken up during the nightmares since he usually did. "I'm fine," he said standing up. Coffee, he needed coffee. It was funny the only time he ever drank caffeine was when he needed to stay awake in order to avoid nightmares caused by his father. He never drank coffee otherwise, sure he made it every morning but he never drank it unless he needed to. He'd never been allowed caffeine as a child either and now it paid off for it did the job when he needed it too.

Chase walked into the kitchen and headed directly for the coffee machine but was stopped by House who grabbed his arm. "No" he said.

"What?" Chase asked turning to look at House.

"No coffee" House said further.

"Why not?' Chase asked growing irritated.

"Because it will keep you up when you need sleep" Cuddy explained joining the conversation.

"I don't need sleep" Chase said firmly, "I'm not tired"

House snorted at that when he saw Chase fighting a yawn. "No coffee" he stated again.

"Fine" Chase huffed. He jerked his arm out of House's grasp and headed for the fridge looking for a soda that would offer him the caffeine that he wasn't allowed to have in the coffee. When he found a Dr. Pepper he grabbed and stood up but it was taken out of his hand before he even had the chance to open it.

"No caffeine" Cuddy said as she put the soda back into the fridge.

"I need something," Chase stated growing agitated.

"You need sleep," House said.

"No" Chase said firmly.

"Why not" Cuddy asked softly trying to get Chase to talk to her.

"I don't want to" Chase said.

"Because you don't want the nightmares to come" House guessed.

Chase looked down and away and didn't answer. It was amazing how he said more without speaking then he ever did when he talked.

House sighed and wrapped his arm around Chase's shoulders as he led the boy back to the spare room. "Let's just try shall we. Cuddy and I did a good job helping last night let's see how we do now" he said stopping in front of the bed.

Chase looked at him in surprise, he had wondered why he hadn't woken up the night before and apparently he had his answer but it was strange since he'd never allowed someone to come near him in his sleep before. One thing he'd learned at an early age was that it was best to sleep lightly and never become too comfortable. "I don't think that…" he stared.

"Shh," Cuddy soothed as she gently pushed Chase down onto the bed and swung his legs over. "Just lie down and try"

"I'm not tired" Chase said again as he tried to sit up. Unfortunately he was tired and he didn't have much energy to fight off House and Cuddy as they tucked him in. Normally he didn't fall asleep with two strange people so close by but his stomach was contentedly full for the first time in over a week, the bed was warm and Cuddy and House's presence seemed to be more relaxing than disconcerting. He guessed that was because they were his actual parents but he doubted it, no way could they put him at ease simply by being related could they?

"Rest now," House said as he finished pulling the comforter up to Chase's chin and patting it down.

Cuddy ran her hands through his hair and started to hum a soft lullaby. Chase was unfamiliar with the song but the tune was nice and the slow rhythmic motion was soothing and soon he found himself falling asleep despite his best intentions to stay awake.


	12. Chase's Place

Chapter 12

Cuddy and House watched Chase sleep for a little while, they hoped that this rest could be peaceful and nightmare free but knew that it was highly unlikely given all that the poor boy had been through. It was clear that his childhood had been bad they just wished that they knew what happened so that they could help the boy through it. After a few more minutes just sitting and watching House silently ushered Cuddy out to the living room.

"What is it?" Cuddy asked. She was unhappy about being pulled away from Chase.

"I'm gonna go to Chase's place and get him some clothes that he can relax in, he only brought work clothes with him." House said.

"OK. I'll call Wilson and then we can go" Cuddy said.

"What are you calling Wilson for and what is this WE thing?" House asked a little irked.

"I'm calling Wilson to come and sit with Chase and then WE as in you AND I are going to go see our son's place for the first time." Cuddy said forcefully.

House looked at her as though he wanted to argue but knew better seeing as they would most likely end up raising their voices and waking Chase whom they had just gotten down. "Fine" he grit out.

"Well at least I know where Chase got that from" Cuddy said as she pulled out her phone to make the call. When she finished she hung up and turned back to House "He'll be here in fifteen minutes I..." she stopped and turned to the bedroom.

House and Cuddy hurried to Chase's room to find him writhing around on the bed. "Shh, Shh" Cuddy soothed as she started running her hand through his hair. House went to the other side of the bed and started to rub Chase's back slowly. Both of them were hoping to calm him down and get him back to a peaceful sleep before he woke-up. They knew that if he woke up from a nightmare it would be near impossible to get him back to sleep and he so desperately needed to sleep.

Wilson let himself into House's apartment since he no one was answering his knocking. He looked around but he didn't see anyone in the living room and the kitchen so he walked along the hall and saw the two new parents sitting on either side of their son trying to comfort him. "Well, you two have certainly fallen into the doting parent roll" he said.

House and Cuddy looked up at Wilson to see him smirking. "About time you got here" House said.

"Well I would have been here sooner but your team wanted me to tell you that they actually need you to answer your phone." Wilson said.

"I'll call them on the way to Chase's place" House said as he and Cuddy stood up and started out the door.

"He's just calmed down so he should sleep peacefully for about one to two hours at least. If he gets upset try rubbing his back that seems to help" Cuddy said as she followed House out of the room. "Call us if he wakes up or if something happens" Cuddy said.

"We'll be fine here, don't worry about us" Wilson said smirking, she was protective already, Chase was in for one heck of a time.

"Let's go" House called, "the sooner we go the sooner we can come back"

"Alright" Cuddy said. She and House headed out of the apartment and Wilson locked the door and then turned to check that Chase was still sleeping peacefully before sitting down on the couch and turning on the T.V.

House and Cuddy made it to Chase's apartment in good time. Cuddy drove so that House could talk with his team, it drove her crazy to not intervene when House started suggesting crazy ideas and she knew he was doing it just to rile her but neither wanted the team to know that she and House were together because it would bring up too many questions and neither wanted that.

When they got there House quickly pulled out a key off of his keychain and unlocked the door.

"How do you have that?" Cuddy asked.

"I have a key to all of the apartments of my staff" House said as he opened the door.

Cuddy and House walked in and both stood stunned with their first look at Chase's apartment, if that's what you could call it. It was a small one-room area with a door that led to the bathroom. There was a bedroll on the floor with an old pillow and a thin comforter. There was no door on the closet but there were some clothes. There was also a chest at the bottom of the closet. That was the sum of the furniture in the room. There was a stack of five or six books beside the bedroll as well as a pencil, pencil sharpener and a notebook as well. House walked over to the fridge and the single cabinet that was next to it, they were both empty side from three bottles of water.

"This is his place?" Cuddy asked shocked. Who could live like this?

"Not for much longer" House said as he started to empty the clothes from the closet into the chest.

Cuddy got the idea but didn't know if it was the best idea "Should we be moving him out?" she asked.

House turned to look at her "If everything can fit into a single chest then I wouldn't call it moving" he said and then turned back to his work.

"He's an adult House. As much as I hate where he lives he does have the right to choose his own place" Cuddy tried to reason.

"Really?" House said folding up the comforter having finished with the closet.

"Yes"

"So you think he should live here?"

"Well I don't like it but he is an adult" Cuddy said.

"An adult huh?"

"Yes"

"You would call him an adult?"

"That's what he is" Cuddy said starting to wonder where House was going with this.

"Alright, if he's an adult then please explain to me how you would define an adult" House said. He knew that Cuddy hadn't taken a real look at this place because she didn't want to believe that anyone, especially her own son, could truly be living like this. They both knew that Chase had the money for a better place and an actual bed and food in the kitchen so this was his choice in some way and Cuddy didn't want to face that just yet. But House wasn't willing to let Cuddy ignore it because he wasn't going to let Chase continue living like this.

"An adult is someone over the age of eighteen" Cuddy said.

"That's the legal definition" House said, "What's your definition"

Cuddy sighed. "An adult is someone who is able to take care of themselves"

"By…" House prompted.

"By holding down a steady job, clothing themselves, having a proper place to live, and getting enough to eat" Cuddy said.

"Right" House said. "So those are your criteria for being an adult correct?"

"Yes" Cuddy said becoming irritated.

"Great" House smirked. "Let's look at our son shall we. He meets criteria number one: holding down a steady job. He, somewhat, meets the clothing criteria" House said having taken a look at, practically threadbare, clothes that he'd put in Chase's trunk (granted the work clothes weren't bad but the other clothes were extremely well used). "Your third criterion isn't exactly met though giving that this room is barely bigger than the janitors closet. Your fourth and last criteria: getting enough to eat, that's something that he definitely doesn't meet seeing as how he is underweight and we've had to force him to eat every meal he's had for the past few days"

House paused giving Cuddy some time to take in what he'd said. "So far Chase only meets one of your criteria fully and two barely, the last one he doesn't meet at all. Still think that we can call him an adult?" he asked already knowing the answer.

Cuddy sighed and looked around. House had a point but she knew that Chase would be upset if he found out that they had moved him out of his own 'apartment' without his permission. Looking around the tiny place though she had to admit that House had a point, Chase wasn't showing that he was an adult and no matter what she would never allow any member of her family to live in a dump like this. "I'll pack up the bathroom" she said.

"Good" House said as he finished with the bedding. He packed the pencil and notebook but he kept the books out after having seen that they belonged to the library. They'd drop them off on the way back to his apartment.

"Here" Cuddy said handing over the toiletries bag. There wasn't much there it looks like he brought most of it with him to work"

"That's good, means he has what he needs." House said. He finished packing everything and shut the chest "Give me a hand with this" he said.

"Yeah" Cuddy said as she moved over.

It took a little bit but they got the chest into the trunk of Cuddy's car. House received a call from his team and needed to be dropped at the hospital while Cuddy headed back to the apartment.

When she arrived she left the trunk in the car for Wilson to bring in and she unlocked the door. When she entered she saw that Chase was no longer asleep but rather sitting on the couch in the living room and flipping through the channels on the T.V. "I thought you were asleep" she said.

"Been up for a while. Told you I wasn't tired" Chase said still staring at the TV and flipping through the channels.

"He woke up not long after the two of you left" Wilson said coming in from the kitchen with two cups. A mug of coffee for himself and a cup of apple juice for Chase "Here" he said holding the juice out to the boy.

"No thanks" Chase said as he continued surfing the channels.

"Thanks" Cuddy said taking the cup from Wilson and putting it on the coffee table in front of Chase "He'll be sure to drink it" she said pointedly towards her son.

"No I wont" Chase said. He was tired of being told what to do.

Cuddy wasn't in the mood for this fight right now and she was growing curious as to why Chase was constantly flipping through the channels. He wasn't staying on any one station long enough to actually see what the show was other than to see a quick glimpse of the characters. Cuddy looked over at Wilson "How long's this been going on?" she asked.

Wilson looked up at the clock "for about an hour and a half now" Wilson answered.

"What are you doing exactly?" Cuddy asked Chase.

"Looking" Chase, answered.

"Looking for what?" Cuddy asked.

"A show" Chase answered.

Cuddy sighed; this was just oh so fun she thought sarcastically. "Which show?" she asked a little more strained.

Chase shrugged.

"Do you know the name of the show?" Wilson asked. He had seen Cuddy's shoulders tense; she was becoming annoyed with Chase's sulking attitude.

"No" Chase answered.

"Do you know the names of the characters?" Wilson tried again.

Chase thought it over "the main one is called Jarod then there's Sydney, Broots and Miss Parker and they hunt him" he said.

Wilson and Cuddy thought it over but they couldn't place the show. "What else can you tell me about it?" Cuddy asked.

"Um…" Chase thought, "Sydney and them work for a place called…. The Center and they want Jarod because he's smart, really smart" he said.

Cuddy looked over at Wilson but the man just shrugged and then went to the computer to google the information that Chase had given them hoping it would help. It did. "Is it _The Pretender_?" Wilson asked.

"Yeah!" Chase exclaimed happily, "Do you know what channel it's on?" he asked.

"Uh… hold on" Wilson said as he looked it up "It seems as though it's not on until 2000 this evening"

Chase turned off the TV and slumped back on the couch "just great" he pouted.

Cuddy stepped over and sat next to Chase on the couch "Well then that gives you plenty of time to take a nap and drink this" Cuddy said as she picked up the cup of juice and placed it in Chase's hand.

"I'm not tired and I'm not thirsty" Chase said going to put the cup back down.

Cuddy stopped him from putting the juice down and then stood up and grabbed a book off of House's bookshelf. "If you're not tired we can read" she suggested having taken note of the multiple books in Chase's apartment.

Chase looked down at the cup and sighed, Cuddy wasn't going to let this go and at least it was just juice rather than an actual meal. He looked at the book in Cuddy's hand, it wasn't one that he had read before but that wasn't surprising since all he'd ever really read were books that taught him something new (he was extremely smart and he liked to keep his mind busy, learning allowed that). He reached out for it figuring he'd give it a try but Cuddy pulled it back and then sat down next to him. "Why suggest reading the book if you won't let me have it?" he asked.

"I was thinking that I could read it to you" Cuddy said.

Chase stared at her, no one had ever read to him before "Why?" he asked skeptically. There had to be a catch here, no one had ever done something for him without wanting something in return and now she was offering to read to him which was something he'd always been told was pleasant.

"Because I want to" Cuddy said. "Have you ever been read to before?" she asked after seeing that Chase's skepticism didn't go away.

Chase shook his head no.

"Well then this'll be the first time" Cuddy said. She sat next to Chase and opened the book, "drink your juice" she instructed. Cuddy waited a few moments until Chase gave in and started drinking and then she began to read. "Oliver Twist" she said "by Charles Dickens"

Wilson had been watching from the side of the room and when he saw that Cuddy and Chase were settled on the couch he silently excused himself and headed back to work.

Chase drank his juice and was soon finished so he put the cup down and then leaned closer to Cuddy wanting to hear the story better. It was a good story, he'd never read just for fun and this was nice. As the story went on Chase slowly moved closer and closer to Cuddy and it didn't take too long before he found himself leaning against Cuddy who had one arm wrapped around him with her hand carding through his hair as she continued to read.

Cuddy read about four and a half chapters before she looked down and saw that Chase was asleep. She brought his feet up onto the couch and laid his head on her lap before turning the TV on low for herself. She sat there carding her hand through Chase's hair as she watched. They stayed there for quite some time, Chase didn't have any nightmares and Cuddy enjoyed the closeness of her son's presence. This was nice.

House walked in carrying take out at 1830 and found mother and son still on the couch in the same position. The sight brought a small smile to his lips. This was his family.


	13. The Show

Chapter 13

House slipped into the apartment quietly, it felt strange sneaking into his own apartment but he didn't want to wake Chase just yet. He set the take out at the table and got out the drinks, plates and silverware.

Cuddy watched House head into the kitchen and then she looked down at Chase. She knew that she needed to get him up so that he could eat, he'd missed too many meals already, but she hated to do it when he was finally sleeping peacefully. She sighed and then started to gently call Chase's name as she patted his back.

Chase came around slowly, he was actually disappointed when he realized that he was waking up, he had been so comfortable. It was strange, he didn't remember going to bed and yet he must have, where else would he have fallen asleep? He heard someone softly calling his name and he felt small thumps on his back so he begrudgingly opened his eyes and looked around. The first thing he noticed is that he wasn't in House's spare room but rather the living room on the couch. The second thing he noticed was that his head was resting on something warm and soft yet solid. He blinked a few times then turned his head. He nearly fell off the couch when he realized that he'd been using Cuddy's lap as a pillow, he would have had Cuddy not wrapped her arms around him to catch him.

"Hey, easy there" Cuddy soothed.

Chase shot up from the couch. He looked embarrassed, "Sorry, I'm sorry" he said.

Cuddy stood up and faced Chase, "You have nothing to be sorry for" she said. She slowly brought her arms up and wrapped them around Chase. He tried to pull away at first but Cuddy held him still and soon he stopped fighting but he didn't stop apologizing.

"I'm sorry I shouldn't have done that. I didn't mean to. I'm sorry…" he said.

"Shh…" Cuddy said stopping the apologies "You did nothing wrong, you just fell asleep that's all" she said.

"I shouldn't have fallen asleep on you. I didn't mean to. I shouldn't have kept you there you have better things to do" Chase said. He couldn't believe that he had fallen asleep on Cuddy; he hadn't meant to, didn't even know that he had. When he woke up he couldn't help but think back to what his mother would have done if he had fallen asleep on her. First thing is that she wouldn't have let him stay there; as soon as he touched her she would have shoved him away. If he had ever actually managed to fall asleep on her he knows he would have been beaten for 'holding her down'. What he didn't understand was why Cuddy wasn't upset about it, given that the sun was setting outside the window he must have been there for quite some time so why wasn't she mad at him?

"Chase" Cuddy said trying to make eye contact. "Chase, look at me" she said. It took a few minutes but eventually Chase hesitantly looked up to meet Cuddy's eyes, "You have done nothing wrong. You did not keep me anywhere I didn't want to be. I enjoyed having you close to me and I'm happy that you got some sleep" she said smiling at him.

Chase studied her for a few moments almost as though he was looking for the truth in Cuddy's face. He must have seen what he was looking for though because he nodded and looked down but he stopped apologizing.

House came in at that point "Dinner is served" he said.

"Good, let's eat" Cuddy said squeezing Chase's shoulders before letting go.

"I'm not really hungry. I think I'll just find sit in here and read. What time is it anyway?" Chase said.

"It's 1845 and you are eating" Cuddy said.

"I'm not really hungry" Chase said. He started to turn towards the bookcase to see what there was to read but was stopped when Cuddy grabbed his shoulders, turned him towards the kitchen and pushed gently.

"It's time for dinner so we're all going to sit down and eat" Cuddy said.

Cuddy led Chase to a chair in the kitchen and sat him down as House filled a plate with roasted chicken, green beans and mashed potatoes. "Eat up" House said cheerily as he placed the plate in front of Chase.

Chase glared at House and then looked down at the place with a frown. He had slept well so it wasn't that his stomach was queasy like it usually was but he still felt as though he were full and he just didn't want to eat. He pushed the plate away from him and made to stand up.

"Ah" House admonished as he put a gentle pressure on Chase's shoulder, effectively lowering him back down into the chair. "You need to eat"

"I'm not hungry" Chase said.

Cuddy came over and put a cup of milk in front of Chase. "You haven't eaten since this morning, you need to eat what's on your plate" she said.

"I'm full" Chase said.

"How can you be full when you've only eaten two full meals in the past three to six days?" House asked. He knew for certain that Chase had only eaten two meals in the past three days and he also knew that it was highly unlikely that Chase ate anything while his father was here so that made it at least six days. Six days with two meals, that wasn't healthy.

"I…" Chase faltered, "I just feel full" he said.

"You can't be full when you haven't eaten." Cuddy reasoned.

Chase looked down. He knew, medically, that his body needed food in order to function properly however he also knew that he didn't feel like eating. This always happened after he spoke to his father and it was even worse now that he had seen his father. He knew that he wasn't hungry and he was tired of House and Cuddy treating him like a child, no he wasn't going to eat, not this time "I'm not eating" he stated forcefully looking up to meet House's eyes.

House set his jaw and was about to say something when Cuddy beat him to it, "You want to watch your show later right?" she asked. She knew that Chase was digging in his heels and he also knew that when dealing with a stubborn child was to take away something that they wanted until they did what you wanted.

Chase shot his head over to Cuddy at the question. "I am watching it" he stated.

House was confused but he could see where this was going so he picked up "Not until that plate is clear and you're ready for bed you're not" he said.

"I'm not eating, I'm not sleeping and I am watching the show!" Chase stated forcefully.

House sat down to at the head of the table and looked over at Chase calmly. "This is my apartment and my TV. If you want to watch that show, if you want to get out of that chair for anything other than a bathroom break, then you will eat what's on your plate and drink your milk." he stated. House looked over to Cuddy, "what time is this show?" he asked, he still had no idea what the show was but I it was something that Chase wanted then it would be a good bartering chip.

Cuddy followed suit and sat across from House so that Chase was between them. "It's on at 2000" she said.

House and Cuddy put food on their own plates and House got out a couple of sodas for himself and Cuddy. "I'm not eating!" Chase practically yelled. He looked for some reaction in House and Cuddy but received none and that just seemed to irritate him more. After trying a few more times to get their attention Chase finally stopped talking and once again made to stand.

"Sit down" House ordered. He hadn't moved from his seat but he was looking at Chase now, as was Cuddy.

"I'm not eating" Chase stated again. He continued to stand there but he didn't walk away.

"Sit down" House said again.

"No" Chase said. He crossed his arms over his chest and glared at House almost in a challenge. He didn't know why but he wanted to know what House and Cuddy would do if he didn't listen to them. They had said that they were his parents, they had even shown him proof that they were his parents. House and Cuddy obviously had no issues with punishing him given that he was basically confined to their side for two weeks. Chase wanted to know what kind of punishments they would doll out when they were mad. He knew what his other parents would have done and he wanted to know if they would do the same. It was stupid but he felt that he really needed to know.

"Chase" Cuddy said as she stood up "Sit down now!" she ordered.

Chase turned his attention towards her. She was as tall as he was if not a little taller and she weighed a bit more. He tensed his shoulders before he spoke "No" he said again.

House had been watching Chase through this whole thing, the boy wasn't making any sense. He said that he didn't want to eat and he had stood up from the table but he had made no move to away. He was picking a fight of that House was sure, what he didn't know was why. Why was Chase trying to fight with them? Was he trying to gage their reactions? He had seen Chase tense right before he'd looked Cuddy straight in the eye and told her 'no'. It was almost as though Chase had expected to be hit. House knew that Rowan and his wife had abused Chase but he also knew that he and Cuddy would NEVER hurt him. Did Chase know this?

That's when it clicked in House's head. Chase was testing them, trying to see how far they were willing to go. Well this was something best settled now. "We aren't going to hurt you Chase" House said calmly, kindly.

Chase and Cuddy turned to him "Of course were not. We'd never hurt our son" Cuddy said forcefully.

Chase looked between them. Why had House said that? Did he figure out what Chase was doing? Most likely he figured it out but then why reassure him? Was he doing so because he meant it or because he was trying to lull Chase into a false sense of security? Chase didn't know what to think, he didn't want to believe that House or Cuddy was capable of hurting him but he'd never known anyone who was put in charge of him who didn't. It wasn't always the same, his parents had beaten him and neglected him, his schoolmates had bullied him and picked fights until he was sent away to college, his dorm mates had harassed him because he was so young, they had put him through their own version of hazing. So far the only place where he hadn't been hurt was while working for House and he didn't want that to end.

Chase sat there thinking. He didn't want to think that House would hurt him and House had even said that he wouldn't. Cuddy had jumped in almost immediately with the same response and neither had seemed to be lying. Chase always knew when someone was playing him; he'd had to learn early on to read people lest he end up with a few new injuries. No neither of them were lying he was almost certain but still, this was a new idea not having to protect himself and he was a little scared. It seemed silly but he was actually scared of what it would mean if he didn't have to watch his back, it would be nice, it would be amazing but it would also be new and that was scary.

Chase slumped limply into his chair looking a bit dazed and still studying the faces of both of his new/old parents. Wow it was odd to think of them like that, his parents. He'd already had parents; horrible parents but parents nonetheless. He was an adult now and yet here he was sitting at the dining room table with his parents telling him that he needs to eat. He sighed and looked back down at the plate in front of him, once again it wasn't a regular adult-sized portion but it was still more than he wanted.

"Just give it a try" Cuddy said softly holding a fork up to him. She and House had watched Chase as he processed what they'd said. She hadn't even thought that Chase was testing them but once House spoke it had made perfect sense she didn't know how she'd missed it Chase had grown up being abused by his parents and he was just trying to see if they were the same. She would show them that they weren't.

Chase took the fork offered to him without really thinking about it, he was still lost in thought over their conversation. He didn't notice when he started eating he just did it automatically, his body just reacting giving itself what it needed even if the owner of said body didn't want it. House and Cuddy let him eat, lost in their own thoughts over the same conversation and the meaning behind it.

It didn't take long before all three were done eating and started to clean up the table. Chase brought his plate to the sink and was going to start working on the dishes when House put a hand on his shoulder and turned Chase to face him. "Time for your shower I think" he said.

"I can clean the kitchen first" Chase said.

"No we can do that" Cuddy said as she took the plate from Chase's hands.

"I have nothing to change into," Chase said thinking that would get him out of it. He'd been wearing his nightclothes all day and he didn't have any others.

"I'll get you some new nightclothes" House said as he walked off towards his bedroom, "they'll be in the bathroom waiting for you"

"But I…" Chase started.

"It's OK" Cuddy said, "we'll take care of it you go shower. Wouldn't want to miss your show now would you?" she asked.

Chase looked over at the clock and noticed that it was 1940; he only had twenty minutes until it was time for his show. "Thanks" he said as he hurried towards the bathroom. He really wanted to see it.

Chase headed into the restroom, after a quick stop off in the spare room, and found the new set of nightclothes sitting on the sink just like House had said. He also found the shower running and at the perfect temperature, funny how House knew just what to set it too. He hurried to get in for he didn't want to be late and he didn't have much time. He couldn't explain exactly what made the show so important but he knew that it was something that he had enjoyed. Jarod (the main character) was smart, like he was only more so, and Chase liked how Jarod used his intelligence to help people. Chase also liked the way Jarod got revenge for others, emotionally. He also liked the fact that Jarod hadn't had a normal childhood and thus found something new to discover, he wondered if that was a regular thing or not? Maybe it had been a one-time thing or only occurred every so often. On the last show Jarod had discovered the batman series, the original ones from the 60's. Chase remembered reading some of those comics as a child, he used to stand in the aisle of the grocery or bookstore and read as much as he could before the shopkeeper would shoo him away. His father had never allowed such things so he could never buy it, not that he ever had any money anyway. He wondered what Jarod would discover this time.

Chase hurried through his shower and dried and changed quickly. He was on the living room couch with five minutes to spare and searching everywhere for the remote.

"Looking for something?" House asked coming in and sitting on the couch next to Chase.

"The remote" Chase answered.

"Oh" House said. He quickly reached over and picked it up off the floor where it had fallen earlier. "Here" he said offering it to Chase.

"Thanks " Chase said and he quickly flipped to the proper channel. "Where is it?" he asked when he saw some animated show was playing.

"Calm down it isn't supposed to start for another four minutes" Cuddy said walking into the room and sitting down on the other side of Chase on the couch.

Chase sat there fidgeting, waiting impatiently for his show to come on. "How much longer?" he asked.

House and Cuddy couldn't help but chuckle, he reminded them so much of a child sitting there in his too big nightclothes, fidgeting and unable to wait for his favorite show to come on. "It should be on any minute," House said.

The show did start and Chase was enthralled with it. Jarod's discovery this time was powdered chocolate milk. "Does that stuff still exist?" Chase asked once the show was over, he had banned talking during the show.

"Does what still exist?" House asked.

"The powdered milk" Chase said.

"It's still popular today" House said.

"Have you ever had it before?" Cuddy asked.

"No" Chase said. It didn't seem like something he should be embarrassed about since Jarod had never had it until he was in his thirties. He wasn't quite twenty so he figured he was still ahead of the curb.

"Would you like to try some?" Cuddy asked.

"Yes" Chase said.

"I'll pick some up tomorrow" House said as he patted Chase's knee and started to stand.

"I can get it" Chase said hurriedly, "you don't have to"

"We don't mind" Cuddy said.

"There's no need. I can take care of it. It's me who wants it" Chase said.

House knelt down and looked Chase in the eye, "We want to do this. You're our son and we want to be able to do these little things for you" he said.

"We've already missed out on so much. Let us have these little things" Cuddy practically pleaded.

Chase looked from one to the other, he could see they were sincere but he didn't understand why it was so important. He didn't understand it but if it was something that would please them he'd give in. It wasn't really that big of a deal so why pick a fight. "OK" he said.

"Good" House said once again standing up. "Now, time for bed"

"I'm not tired" Chase said automatically.

"Well let's try anyway shall we?" Cuddy said. She stood up and grabbed the book from earlier "Come on, I'll read to you until you fall asleep" she offered.

Chase looked up at her. He didn't want to go to sleep but he had enjoyed listening to the story earlier. He was sure that he could listen without falling asleep though so he nodded his agreement and got up as well.

All three of them headed into the spare room and House pulled back the sheets for Chase. "I can do that," Chase said.

"It's already done" House said.

"Yeah" Chase sighed.

It didn't take long before they were all settled. Chase was laying down under the covers, Cuddy was sitting on the side of the bed and House was sitting in the chair that was placed next to the bed earlier. Chase was enjoying the story but he soon found his eyes drifting closed, despite his best efforts he was soon fast asleep.

Cuddy and House sat and watched him for a little while longer until they too retired for the night this time with Cuddy on the couch and House in his bed.


	14. Are You Mad?

Chapter 14

House and Cuddy were able to sleep for about four hours before Chase awoke them screaming. They both hurried to his room where they found him curled up in a ball on the floor next to his bed.

Cuddy was the first to react. She went over and knelt by Chase wrapping her arms around him "Shh, shh, it's OK, it's OK" she said.

Chase was shaking and scared and confused. He'd been dreaming about his father again and he hated it, he just wished that he could forget, that he wouldn't ever have to remember but he knew that wouldn't happen. He hadn't meant to wake them up but Cuddy's arms around him and her voice and the thump of House's cane let him know that he had. Slowly he raised his head up and look at them both "Sorry" he said.

House took a bit longer to get down on the floor but he did manage it. He reached his hand out and ran it through Chase's hair and then settled it on the back of his neck. "You have nothing to be sorry for" he said.

"It's alright" Cuddy said.

Chase looked from one to the other. He still wasn't used to this, typically he was to apologize for everything and yet here they were, once again, rebuffing his apologies. Why wouldn't they let him apologize for doing something wrong? Did they not want to let him? Was there some reason that they didn't even want to try and forgive him? Were they mad at him? He didn't understand. "Did I do something to upset you before?" he asked.

Cuddy and House looked at Chase concerned "Of course not" Cuddy said.

"No" House said at the same time.

"Then why won't you let me apologize?" Chase asked.

"We won't let you apologize because you have nothing to apologize for" Cuddy said.

Chase was becoming irritated. Of course he had something to apologize for, he'd woken them up again, how could he not have to apologize for that? "Will you stop this" he said.

"Stop what?" Cuddy asked.

"Stop… whatever this is" Chase said.

"We don't understand Chase" House said. "We haven't been doing anything"

"You keep acting as though I've done nothing wrong when I have. Then you won't let me apologize. If you want to be mad fine be mad but do something about it then" Chase said irritated. How hard was this for them to understand?

"Chase" Cuddy started but House cut her off.

"If you do something wrong I will tell you but you have done nothing wrong here. Your mother and I are not going to punish you for a nightmare and we aren't going to punish you because you don't understand how to hug someone or because you fall asleep on our laps. Those aren't bad things they're good things." House said.

"No they're not" Chase interrupted. How could they be good when they've been bad all his life? What's changed in the last three days?

"They are good things Chase. They are ways of showing that we care, they are comfort and safety. It's natural to want to be loved by your parents." Cuddy said.

"Why is it natural now when it's never been before?" Chase asked.

Cuddy gasped slightly at this and House felt the murderous desire to find Rowan and strangle him. "It's always been natural you were just never allowed to have it" Cuddy said.

"Like Jarod" House added. If Chase was so interested in the show then maybe it was best to draw connections. House had seen the show a few times before and knew some of the basic plot line, enough for this conversation anyway.

"What do you mean?" Chase asked. He had seen Jarod interact with others, it reminded him of himself in some ways, that misunderstanding of the most basic human interactions. But Jarod also seemed to know what he was doing.

"Jarod wasn't allowed to be given or to show affection when he was a child, it wasn't something that the Center permitted so when he escaped he had to learn about it, just like you are. It wasn't a bad thing and it didn't make him a bad person it just made him realize that the people to raised him were bad people." House reasoned.

Chase sat there staring at his knees for a little while taking in everything that House had said. If it were true then it meant that Jarod hadn't ever been hugged or really even touched until he was in his mid thirties, that would explain why Chase could relate to some of his actions. But Jarod seemed to be so much better than Chase was although he was willing to bet that he hadn't started the show from the beginning, maybe that's where Chase was headed. Now logically Chase knew that the Pretender was just a show and it wasn't real but so many things held true for him that he wanted to hope that at least some of it could be true. If any part of it were true then it would mean that Chase wasn't so strange after all, that he could have a good life eventually.

Chase eventually looked back up at House and Cuddy. These are my parents, he thought. It was a strange feeling to think that he might actually be accepting this but it was also somewhat comforting to know that they wanted him, no one else ever had. "You're not mad at me?" he asked hesitantly.

"No" both Cuddy and House said in unison.

Chase nodded his head and looked back down at his knees. He knew that he should get up but it was nice here. Cuddy was still holding him close to her and House still had his hand on the back of Chase's neck. It was a comfortable position in his opinion, a safe one odd as that sounded. He slowly started to lean into Cuddy more until he found himself putting all of his weight against her.

Cuddy brought one hand up and guided Chase's head to her shoulder while House started rubbing up and down on the boy's back. It didn't take too much longer before Chase was asleep once again, curled up between his parents.

House readjusted himself and he and Cuddy looked down at their sleeping son. This would be difficult, this would be tiring but they knew that together they could help him, that they could care for him and eventually Chase would learn to let go of his past. It was a long road ahead and these next two weeks would be the hardest what with all of the changes but they would get through it as a family and they would come out better for it.

The End…For Now


End file.
